Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi Defense Minister Khaled bin Selman, and Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir met with Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsin Rezaei in Tehran on Monday for a four-way security meeting. According to Iran's economic newspaper Donya-ye Eghtesad, the talks took place while the Iran-U.S. crisis continues, maritime security risks increase, and tensions in Yemen deepen.
According to the newspaper, the meeting's urgent agenda centered on three axes: reducing tensions among regional actors, strengthening diplomatic solution pathways, and supporting mediation work by Pakistan and Qatar. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy for foreign policy at Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Pakistan's Army Chief conveyed at a recent Tehran visit a request from the three nations for a joint meeting; he stressed that the four countries did not seek to impose their own views, but aimed to build a common framework for regional security. According to Bagheri, the meeting's main achievement was the four countries' agreement to continue the process; however, no agreement was reached on the location and timing of the next meeting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the three countries' representatives, "We are ready to take steps toward regional cooperation and resolving disputes." Council Secretary Rezaei said that at the end of the meeting, consensus was reached that regional security must be "internal" (independent of external interference).
How the Persian press covered it
| Source (orientation) | Headline / framing |
|---|---|
| Iran (official statement, Bagheri Kani) | Presented the four countries' agreement to continue the process as a concrete "agreement." |
| Saudi Arabia (separate statement) | Riyadh's statement did not mention such an "agreement"; it spoke only of the importance of keeping negotiation channels open to prevent a new military escalation. |
| Donya-ye Eghtesad (economic daily, technocratic) | Characterized the meeting as a crisis management attempt rather than a "permanent security arrangement"; cited MIT Chief Kalin's participation as evidence that the three nations, despite their August 2026 defense pact, still felt the need to engage Iran. |
While Iran's official voice presented the meeting as a tangible "agreement," Saudi Arabia's separate statement did not use this language; therefore the meeting's actual outcome remains unconfirmed.
Context
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan signed the "Mecca Joint Defense Pact" in August 2026, declaring that an armed attack on one would be considered an attack on all three; the first ministerial-level meeting took place in Istanbul in August. The pact does not yet have an integrated command structure or permanent joint force, and officials emphasize that Turkish troops will not fight against Houthis in Yemen. The four-way meeting in Tehran, in which the pact members—while stating they are not targeting Iran—simultaneously maintain contact with Tehran, shows that regional security balances cannot be reduced to a single alliance. The meeting came three days after a summit in Istanbul where foreign ministers from seven countries gathered.
