Tehran shrugs off Trump’s attack threats, says diplomacy ongoing as oil prices stay high
High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting in the Iran war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. Iran and the three countries party to the Mecca defense pact — Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan — agreed to continue talks after a “first” meeting in Tehran, Iranian state television reported.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, met with Iran’s top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that the agenda for the Monday meeting wasn’t set, but the talks would “undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security,” while Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find “ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.”
Two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to reporters, told the Associated Press that the war in Yemen and strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also among the topics discussed during the talks.
During the talks on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran supports any agreement that would deepen regional cooperation, resolve differences and make greater use of the shared resources and capabilities of Islamic countries.
The meeting followed Qatari mediators’ trip to Tehran on Sunday, which was coordinated alongside the U.S. and came as part of an effort to scale back regional tensions, a regional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, told AP.
AP/AFP
