Pakistan Army Cautiously Optimistic on Iran-US Talks — SkimNews
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- Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan's military is "cautiously optimistic" about its mediation between Iran and the United States, in his first interview since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week, and warned of unnamed "powerful spoilers and detractors" who believe conflict serves them.
- Asim Munir, Pakistan's chief mediator, travelled to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin; Chaudhry said the repeat trips were "of course" a positive sign.
- Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on August 7, treats an attack on any signatory as an attack on all; Chaudhry said its wording does not bar new members, with Iran "most welcome" if it shares the pact's vision of collective deterrence, though the three signatories' political leaderships would decide.
- Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said after Monday's talks that regional security should be ensured by regional countries without foreign intervention.
- Pakistan is "not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict," yet committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina; any additional Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia would depend on the situation and decisions by both countries' political leaderships.
- Saudi Arabia has seen fighting with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group reignited by the Iran conflict, stoking fears of a wider war — the fallout regional powers are trying to manage through the new three-country pact.
Why it matters: The August 7 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement binds Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan against attack on any signatory, and its wording does not bar Iran, while Tehran's Mohsen Rezaei says regional security should be run by regional states without foreign intervention. Any added Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia would depend on both political leaderships' decisions.
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