Mecca pact countries in Iran in bid to stop war restarting

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, the three Mecca pact countries, held talks in Tehran on Monday, 26 October, with Iran in an attempt to stop the eight-month Middle East war from reigniting, a Saudi foreign ministry statement said. The delegation included Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, who met President Massoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and security chief Mohsen Rezaei. Iranian state media said the parties agreed to continue discussions, with no concrete announcements. Rezaei called the talks "very good". Regional tensions have risen ahead of Israel's elections on 27 October and the US midterms. Fresh explosions were reported in Riyadh after Houthi attacks, and Egypt's parliament approved defensive support for Saudi Arabia if requested.

Where accounts differ. The South China Morning Post article does not report Rezaei's description of the talks as very good or the Iranian state media account that the parties agreed to continue discussions, which appear only in The Straits Times.

The Straits TimesSouth China Morning Post

Written by AI from these outlets' articles: facts they report, claims attributed, numbers checked against the sources. It may still contain errors; read the originals.