Dar: Mecca pact panel to hold emergency Riyadh talks on Houthi attacks; 6+ nations want in
Dar: Mecca pact panel to hold emergency Riyadh talks on Houthi attacks; 6+ nations want in
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the Mecca pact emergency talks will be held in Riyadh next week to discuss escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and confirmed that more than six countries have expressed interest in joining the agreement.
Dar told a news conference in Islamabad that Iran has suggested engaging Yemen’s Houthis politically, an idea the committee of the three-member pact will take up at the meeting. The exact date will be confirmed later, he said.
Mecca pact emergency talks Houthis: Iran’s political suggestion
Dar said Iran had distanced itself from the Houthis and Iraqi militias, adding that President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi both wanted the matter concluded. He said he had also briefed Tehran on the defence pact and how Pakistan would honour it.
“There is no written, solid offer. It is brainstorming between two foreign ministers,” Dar said, describing the political approach as a suggestion made in good faith that would be discussed as an alternative to “kinetic action”.
Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan — the pact’s three members — will decide next steps at the meeting. Their military chiefs met in Riyadh on September 25 and condemned the Houthi attacks.
More than six countries keen to join
“More than six countries are keen” to join the pact, Dar said, without naming them or saying whether all were Muslim-majority nations. He added that new membership requests could not be entertained until the pact was fully operational, which could take up to a year.
Dar reiterated that the pact was defensive in nature and not intended for offensive purposes. He also said there should be no fee or charges for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a central bargaining chip in efforts to end the nearly seven-month US-Iran conflict.
Background: a pact tested by war
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, pledging to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three. The inaugural meeting of its Strategic Political and Defence Committee was held in Istanbul on August 31, where Pakistan was given responsibility for heading the alliance’s secretariat in Riyadh.
On September 23, retired Pakistani Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood was appointed as the pact’s first secretary-general. Separately, Pakistan’s military said on Friday that its top commanders strongly condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, expressing solidarity with the kingdom and commitment to the security of Islam’s holy sites.
FAQs
What is the emergency Riyadh meeting about?
A committee of the Mecca defence pact will meet in Riyadh next week to discuss Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including Iran’s suggestion of a political engagement with the Houthis.
Which countries are in the Mecca defence pact?
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, who signed the agreement on August 7, 2026. An armed attack on one is to be treated as an attack on all three.
How many countries want to join the pact?
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said more than six countries have expressed interest, though no new members can be admitted until the pact is fully operational, which could take up to a year.
What did Dar say about the Strait of Hormuz?
He said there should be no fee or charges to cross the strait, amid its role as a bargaining chip in efforts to end the US-Iran conflict.
