- Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman to attend meeting.
- Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin also set to participate.
- Meeting will be held with Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
TEHRAN: An Iranian official on Monday said that senior officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye will visit Tehran for talks over regional security, without specifying when the meeting would take place.
Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will participate in this meeting, said Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
He said the meeting will be held with Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
“This four-party meeting in Tehran could represent an important and effective step towards building lasting regional security, and we hope this initiative will contribute to establishing a stable region,” said Kani in an interview with state television, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Reuters citing two people with knowledge of the matter, said senior officials from Islamabad, Riyadh and Ankara will meet Iranian officials in Tehran today (Monday) to discuss regional coordination.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have a trilateral defence agreement, stipulating an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three nations.
The first article of the pact, — named Makkah Joint Defence Agreement — says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters.
Signed in August, the agreement came amid a regional conflict that erupted in February when the United States and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran during ongoing nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
An April ceasefire — brokered by Pakistan — brought an end to the initial phase of intense bombardment but the two sides have continued to vie for control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel.
Iran has since claimed control over the strait and has regularly targeted vessels that attempt to cross without its authorisation, while the United States has imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Diplomatic efforts with the US remain stalled, especially since the collapse of a June deal which laid out a pathway to a permanent settlement of the conflict.
The war has since spread across the region to include fighting between Saudi Arabia and Houthis in Yemen.
