Saudi-led pact nations hold Tehran talks to stop war reigniting

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran in Tehran on Monday in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting.

The meeting was the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations since the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The three had signed the Mecca mutual defence pact in August.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said the visit was meant to open negotiating channels to prevent a return of military escalation. A statement said officials flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis".

Saudi Arabia was represented by defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkey by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, according to Saudi and Iranian officials. Iranian state media published pictures of President Masoud Pezeshkian, foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, attending the meetings.

At the end of the meetings the four states agreed to continue talks to strengthen cooperation, especially in peace and security, state media reported. Pakistan and Qatar have led mediation efforts in the war, and Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday.

Regional tensions rose ahead of Israel's pivotal elections on Tuesday and the following week's US midterms. The Tehran talks followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war.

Israeli media reports claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been trying to push the military into provoking a war with Iran before the Israeli elections on Tuesday.

Oman's foreign minister Badr Albusaidi called for a security pact involving Gulf states, Iraq and Iran in which the US is no longer the primary provider of security. Oman and Iran have a temporary agreement on managing shipping traffic in the strait of Hormuz, but it is on hold until the US and Iran lift their blockades of the waterway.

Albusaidi said he believed the previous round of US-Iran talks in February, which Oman mediated, were making progress.

The National's live blog listed Egypt's parliament approving military support for Saudi Arabia amid escalating Houthi attacks, and an agreement by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey to continue dialogue on regional peace and security. It also carried an unattributed item saying US troops would be ready for major Iran operations within 96 hours of an order from Trump, according to officials.