Top officials from the Mecca Pact countries Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are set to meet Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on October 26.

Source: Reuters, Oct 26

Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Turkish head of intelligence will also join, one of the people said. The Saudi government media office and Pakistan's military media wing did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment, so the planned meeting has not been publicly confirmed by Riyadh or Islamabad.

The planned talks would be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia has come under escalating attacks from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of missiles and drones on Sunday as fighting with the group continued unabated, Reuters reported.

A defence pact meeting the country it was built around

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August, under which an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Its first article says the parties shall use "all necessary means" to eliminate threats to one another's territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters. Ministers from the 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.

Efforts by Turkey's parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still under way, while Pakistan approved the pact last week. Reuters described the Houthi conflict as an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war.

For the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers who live and work across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, any channel that lowers the temperature between Riyadh, its pact partners and Tehran matters directly - their safety, flights and remittances all move with the region's security. Monday's talks, if they go ahead as reported, will be watched in Gulf capitals for any sign that coordination can stop the Saudi-Houthi fighting from widening further.