Top officials from Mecca pact countries to visit Tehran

Iran's Supreme National Security Council says senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye will travel to Tehran to discuss regional security.

The deputy secretary of council, Ali Bagheri, said Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will attend the meeting.

Munir visited Tehran last week, where he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials. During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran's demands were met, according to Iranian media.

Pakistan has been a key intermediary between the United States and Iran. Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed weeks later.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August 2026 by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, is a trilateral military pact that commits the three countries to treat an armed attack against one member as an attack against all three.

Riyadh airport under continued threat

Meanwhile, the Yemen-based Houthis say they have attacked King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, though Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the report. However, an alert was issued overnight by the Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority.
 

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Monday it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in the capital Sanaa, including one used to fire a missile towards Riyadh that the coalition said it had intercepted.

Early on Sunday, explosions shook Riyadh as Saudi air defences intercepted Houthi missiles and drones while King Khalid International Airport prepared to resume flights after a two-week closure.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired towards the capital, a cruise missile aimed at Khamis Mushait and ten ballistic missiles launched towards the kingdom’s southern region.

Flight-tracking data showed no aircraft over Riyadh on Sunday morning, with scheduled departures still delayed following reports of ballistic missiles near the airport.

The pressure extends beyond the capital. On Saturday, Saudi Civil Defence said debris from two intercepted ballistic missiles fell across parts of western Saudi Arabia. The missiles were reportedly fired towards Mecca and Medina, with fragments landing in Wadi Al-Maghammas, Jeddah, Taif and Rabigh. No casualties were reported.

The Houthis rejected that account, calling the Saudi statement “a serious and clear lie”. They said their operations target oil facilities and military bases, and that they announce those attacks when they happen.

Read More: 

• Houthi attacks put Saudi Arabia on alert as Türkiye and Pakistan face defence pact test
• Houthi attacks escalate in Saudi Arabia as Iran warns U.S. of wider conflict
• Houthis deny launching drones towards Saudi holy city of Medina

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Mecca pact Iran US-Iran Pakistan Saudi Arabia