Delegations meet in Iran for talks to stop war resumption

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have held talks with Iran in Tehran in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from resuming, as Egypt authorised military support for Riyadh as the kingdom faces attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

Officials from the three Mecca pact countries flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis", a Saudi foreign ministry statement said.

The talks, which include Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, follow warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war.

It is the first joint visit to Tehran by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey since they formed a defence alliance in Mecca, the holy city in western Saudi Arabia, in August.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has suffered weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis, including a missile strike that killed 13 at Riyadh's international airport.

Regional tensions have risen ahead of Israel's pivotal elections on tomorrow and next week's US midterms, where US President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to keep control of both chambers of the US Congress.

As the talks in Tehran began, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said it was "essential to stop any escalation" in the Middle East.

"The risk to have the combination of an overwhelming military attack on Iran and an overwhelming military attack by Iran on the countries of the Gulf, needs to be avoided at all costs," he told a press conference in Cairo.

"As agreed, Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will participate in this meeting," said Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

In an interview with state television, Mr Kani said the meeting will also include Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei.

"This historic meeting in Tehran may be the last chance before escalation spirals out of control, an attempt to impose a path of de-escalation before it's too late," Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi security analyst and researcher, posted on X.

Fresh explosions occurred in Riyadh overnight after the Iran-allied Houthis claimed a new attack on the Saudi capital's international airport yesterday.

Responding to weeks of attacks, Egypt's parliament approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to approve defensive military support for Saudi Arabia "if requested".

Egypt has the Arab world's largest military, with hundreds of thousands of active personnel, fighter jets and air defences sourced from countries including the US, China, France and Russia.

It was not clear exactly what support was on offer.

US-Iran mediation efforts have been led by Qatar and Pakistan.

A Qatari delegation visited Tehran yesterday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said.

Andreas Krieg of London-based risk consultancy MENA analytica said the Saudi defence minister's presence in Tehran was "hugely significant".

Mr Krieg called Mr Bin Salman the "strategic mastermind of Saudi Arabia".

Mr Bin Salman, brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, has emerged as one of Saudi Arabia's key diplomatic interlocutors, repeatedly dispatched on sensitive regional missions.

"His seniority and proximity to the Saudi leadership send a powerful signal," Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst who is close to the government, posted on social media.

"Riyadh is investing serious political capital in dialogue with Iran, seeking to contain escalation and create a credible diplomatic path out of the crisis," he added.

Recent comments have heightened speculation about renewed conflict.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "there has been talk of a new war" but that Tehran's policies remain unchanged.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington "may do another little Epic Fury", referring to the US-Israeli campaign on Iran that began on 28 February.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned yesterday that Iran may try to disrupt the Israeli elections, where he is in a neck-and-neck race to stay in power.

"We have intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections," Mr Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.

"Don't test us. You will suffer disproportionate blows," added Mr Netanyahu, who has campaigned heavily on his security credentials.

The remarks came as Israel's Channel 12, citing unnamed sources, reported a confrontation between Mr Netanyahu and army chief Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive in the war with Iran, which the premier denied.

Iran's foreign ministry said the outcome of the Israeli elections in which Mr Netanyahu is facing a tight race will make "no difference".

"It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region," said ministry spokesperson Mr Baqaei in a weekly press briefing, a day ahead of the Israeli legislative polls.

War has engulfed the Middle East since late February when the United States and Israel launched a wave of surprise attacks on Iran, just as Washington and Tehran were in the middle of negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.

An April ceasefire brought an end to the initial phase of intense bombardment but the two sides have continued to vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel.

Iran claims control over the strait and regularly targets vessels that attempt to cross without its authorisation, while the United States has imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis remain stalled, especially since the collapse of a June deal which laid out a pathway to a permanent settlement.

The war has since spread across the region to include fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Saudi coalition says struck Houthi missile facilities

Elsewhere, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis struck several of its missile launchers and storage facilities, a spokesperson said, while the Iran-backed group claimed a new attack on Riyadh's international airport.

The coalition's operation came a day after explosions rattled Saudi Arabia's capital and authorities sent text messages to residents warning them of a "hostile aerial threat" to the city, which has been heavily targeted by the Houthis in recent weeks.

The Saudi-led military coalition's spokesperson Turki al-Maliki posted on X that the operation had destroyed four ballistic missile launchers, as well as a missile depot and tunnels used by the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen.

The operation "focused on cutting off Houthi militia supply lines between areas under their control", he added.

Riyadh airport

The group has carried out waves of strikes on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade.

"Air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward Riyadh," Mr al-Maliki also said.

The airport re-opened and flights resumed with the Houthis warning travellers to avoid the facility, calling it a "military target".

The Houthis said once again they had attacked the airport "with a ballistic missile, striking the target with precision", according to a post by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree on social media.

He said the Houthis had also struck oil pumping stations with drones.

The airport closure had been a major blow for Saudi Arabia, forcing the postponement of the kingdom's flagship investment conference until 2027 and disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.

The Dakar Rally also joined a growing list of events that were cancelled, postponed or relocated in the fallout from the war.

Mr Saree had warned that Riyadh airport was still "unsafe" and a "military target".

"The Saudi regime shall bear the consequences of any operations at the airport," the spokesperson said.

Saudi Arabia and the government it backs in Yemen have come under sustained attack in recent weeks from the Houthis as a years-long truce broke down in the summer, shifting the focus of the wider US-Iran war that erupted in February.

As operations resumed at Riyadh airport, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed a key air defence system.

Mr Mitsotakis "responded favourably to the kingdom's request to keep the Patriot system in Saudi Arabia, given the current challenging circumstances", his office said.

Greece has deployed a battery to operate the US-made Patriot air defence system in Yanbu, a major oil export hub on the Red Sea coast.

Yesterday, the Saudi-led military coalition said air defences intercepted at least 10 ballistic missiles.

"The bombardment has been very heavy since this morning - may God keep us safe. Everything is shaking because of the explosions," one resident in Saudi Arabia's Khamis Mushait told AFP yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The kingdom's civil defence agency later said two people were injured in the south by falling debris, also reporting damage to several buildings and vehicles.

Images released by the kingdom's official press agency showed a building with part of its upper facade destroyed, exposing metal rods.

Another image captured large windows shattered, with shards of glass strewn across the pavement and part of the road.