ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Tehran on Monday for talks involving Iranian, Saudi and Turkish officials, as regional powers pursue diplomacy amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and fears of renewed US-Iran fighting.

The discussions bring together Iran and the three signatories to the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. The pact, signed in August, treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three.

The meeting is their first high-level contact in the four-country format since attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia against Saudi Arabia intensified. Pakistan has also been seeking to revive stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

“Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, Chief of the Army Staff & Chief of Defense Forces (COAS & CDF) is visiting Tehran, Iran for an official visit,” Pakistan’s military said in a statement.

In a subsequent update, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that the heads of the Pakistani, Saudi and Turkish delegations had held intensive and detailed discussions with Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

IRNA said the delegation heads would subsequently meet President Masoud Pezeshkian before his departure for Russia on Monday night. It did not announce any outcome from the discussions with Rezaei.

Saudi Arabia’s delegation was led by Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, while Türkiye was represented by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, according to Saudi and Iranian officials.

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had earlier said the four-country meeting could help establish a regional security framework.

“This four-country meeting in Tehran can certainly be an effective and important step in shaping an indigenous regional security framework,” Kani said in an interview with Iranian state television, adding that the meeting had been proposed during Munir’s visit to Tehran last week.

The diplomatic effort comes as the Houthi attacks threaten Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure. Ministers from the Makkah pact countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

The wider conflict began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Pakistan, with Qatar’s help, brokered an interim agreement in June intended to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and open negotiations on a broader settlement, but that agreement subsequently unraveled.

Iran has sought to control passage through the strait, which previously carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, while Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The standoff, alongside disagreements over Iran’s nuclear program, has frustrated efforts to secure a lasting settlement.