Makkah pact chiefs meet Iran in Tehran: Munir, Saudi, Turkish officials

Top security officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye are due in Tehran on Monday, October 26, for joint talks with Iran on regional security, Iranian officials said. Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin are to meet Mohsen Rezaei, the new secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council — the first time all three members of the Makkah defence pact have sat down together with Tehran since Yemen's Houthis escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia.

What we know about the meeting

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), confirmed the visit and named the three visitors. People familiar with the plans gave the same line-up and said the talks were set for Monday. Saudi Arabia's government media office and Pakistan's military media wing had not commented publicly by Monday morning.

Country	Official attending	Role
Pakistan	Field Marshal Asim Munir	Army chief and Chief of Defence Forces
Saudi Arabia	Prince Khalid bin Salman	Defence minister
Turkiye	Ibrahim Kalin	Head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT)
Iran (host)	Mohsen Rezaei	Secretary, Supreme National Security Council

According to Bagheri Kani, the idea came from Munir himself: during a meeting with Rezaei in Tehran last week, the Pakistani army chief said senior officials of the three countries had decided to travel to Iran together for a joint session with the SNSC secretary. Iran says the meeting has two stated purposes — to congratulate Rezaei on his appointment and to consult on regional security.

Bagheri Kani said Iran and the three visiting countries could take a practical step towards what he called "endogenous" regional security — security managed by the countries of the region themselves, without foreign involvement. Iranian officials regularly describe the US and Israeli military presence in the region as the main source of instability.

Background: a new defence bloc and a widening crisis

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in August 2026. Under the pact, an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, and the parties commit to use all necessary means to remove threats to each other's territory and sovereignty. Pakistan approved the agreement last week, while Turkiye's parliament has begun but not finished ratification.

Earlier in October, the pact's ministers held an emergency meeting in Riyadh and agreed on the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom faced a growing wave of missile and drone attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. On Sunday, Saudi air defences intercepted yet another wave of missiles and drones. Earlier attacks were aimed at areas including Mecca and Medina, and debris fell near Jeddah and Taif.

The Houthi campaign has become one of the most dangerous parts of the wider confrontation between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other. The US has kept a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to normal traffic, and US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Washington could strike Iran again or reach a deal.

Pakistan sits at the centre of the diplomacy. Together with Qatar, it brokered the June interim arrangement between Iran and the US, and Munir has travelled to Tehran several times this year, carrying messages between the two sides. Iran's ambassador in Islamabad said on Saturday that Tehran had told Pakistani mediators it would reopen Hormuz if the US lifted its blockade.

Reactions

Iranian officials have presented the visit as a sign that regional powers prefer dialogue with Tehran over confrontation. Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials have not yet set out their own aims in public. Riyadh's main concern is stopping the Houthi attacks on its cities and oil facilities; Ankara and Islamabad have been weighing how to help Saudi air defences under the pact while avoiding a direct war with Iran.

Why it matters

The meeting brings together the three Muslim-majority states that have just bound themselves to defend each other and the country they most need to talk to about the Houthis. If the talks produce any Iranian pressure on the Houthis to scale back attacks, it could ease the threat to Saudi Arabia and lower the risk of the pact being pulled into a wider war.

For Pakistan, the stakes are high. Millions of Pakistanis work in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, their remittances support the economy, and the country depends on imported oil and LNG that pass through the region. Business leaders in Lahore warned this week that a long Middle East crisis could hurt Pakistan's fragile recovery. Islamabad's role as a channel between Tehran, Riyadh and Washington also raises its diplomatic weight — but means it must balance its new defence commitment to Saudi Arabia with its long border and ties with Iran.

What happens next

Any statements after the session — from the SNSC, Pakistan's military media wing, the Saudi defence ministry or Turkish officials — will show whether the sides agreed on concrete steps, such as a mechanism to reduce Houthi attacks or a follow-up meeting. GlobeHourly will update this story when the outcome of the Tehran talks is announced.