Senior Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials in Tehran for regional security talks

High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye were in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian authorities aimed at averting renewed fighting between Iran, Israel and the United States, Iran's Foreign Ministry said.

The delegations were led by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, director of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization. They were to meet Iran's top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington.

The three countries are signatories to the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August, under which an armed attack on any one of them is considered an attack on all.

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), named the three officials as participants in the meeting, the official IRNA news agency reported. He said Munir announced the decision during talks with SNSC Secretary Mohsen Rezaei on a recent trip to Tehran, and that Rezaei would also attend. The meeting will focus on security issues in the West Asia region, Bagheri Kani said, adding that he hoped participants would work toward establishing an "endogenous" security regime through regional participation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters that the agenda for the meeting had not been set, but that the talks would "undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security."

Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find "ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability."

The war in Yemen and strikes by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also on the table, according to two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The talks come as many in Iran are anxious about a possible return to all-out war. Israeli and American leaders have sharpened their threats ahead of elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant. Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the United States, as part of ongoing efforts to ease regional tensions, according to a regional official.

(With input from agencies)