Egypt parliament authorises military support for Saudi Arabia as Makkah pact delegation holds Tehran talks

Egypt’s parliament on Monday authorised the Egyptian military to help defend Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported, on the same day a delegation from the three Makkah pact countries held de-escalation talks with Iranian officials in Tehran.

The parliament in Egypt, which is not a signatory to the Makkah pact, authorised the military to help defend Saudi Arabia, described by Reuters as a major financial and political partner for Cairo. The vote is the follow-up to the authorisation vote Flip News reported on 22 October as due on 26 October, when President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said any Egyptian military backing would defend the Kingdom’s territory and borders only and would not include attacks on Yemen.

The Tehran talks were the first high-level contact between Iran and the three pact signatories — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye — since a war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Reuters reported. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Türkiye’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin represented their countries, and Iranian state media published pictures of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei attending.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to “prevent the return of military escalation”. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the discussions would include Israel’s expansionist policies, developments in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and the repercussions of US and Israeli military action against Iran, and that the meeting could be a first step towards establishing regional security mechanisms. A senior Pakistani security official said the focus was building a regional non-aggression network, with US-Iran talks, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the Strait of Hormuz and a US blockade of Iranian ports also on the agenda.

An Iranian official said there would be no discussion of Iran’s nuclear programme at Monday’s meeting, and the issue would not be addressed until Tehran’s demands were met, including ending a US blockade of Iranian ports and lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports. The Houthis said on Monday they had attacked pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline as well as Riyadh airport; there was no immediate Saudi confirmation of those attacks.

This is a follow-up to Flip News’s reports on Monday morning that the meeting was set for Monday and that the delegation had arrived in Tehran. No outcome, joint statement or concession from the Tehran meetings had been announced in the reports reviewed.

(Reuters via Business Recorder | Gulf News live coverage)