NO breakthrough has officially been announced but the visit of a delegation of Makkah Accord countries to Tehran at the height of a spiraling conflict, their discussions with senior officials of the host country and declaration to continue further dialogue in an effort to ramp up cooperation for regional peace and security is itself a major achievement. The credit for this diplomatic feat surely goes to CDF and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir at whose behest the four countries gathered in the Iranian capital to discuss regional security, the consequences of US-Israeli military aggression against Iran and its continuation, as well as efforts to assist the people of Palestine and Lebanon. This was also confirmed by Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei who described the meeting as a practical step towards establishment of endogenous regional security based on shared interests.
The meeting, once again, proved that Pakistan, which brokered Islamabad Accord between the United States and Iran, has not abandoned its mediation efforts and that the Field Marshal is listened to by all sides of the conflict despite intricacies involved. In the first four-way meeting, the participants agreed to continue dialogue to strengthen cooperation among the four countries, including on regional peace and security. It was because of the skilful handling of the mediation process by CDF Asim Munir that Saudi Arabia and Iran, which were believed to be in a sort of indirect war, were brought to the negotiating table as Riyadh agreed to send Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to Tehran to represent the Kingdom in the talks. In a statement issued after the meeting, Saudi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the visit by the Defence Minister came as “part of the ongoing efforts of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement countries to de-escalate tensions between the parties to the current crisis, encourage dialogue and diplomatic solutions and support the mediation efforts undertaken by the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”. This is not only an expression of willingness on the part of the Kingdom to give a positive response to any attempt aimed at easing regional tension but also an acknowledgement of the overt and covert diplomatic efforts by Pakistan.
The statement further said that Saudi Arabia emphasized the importance of opening channels of negotiation to prevent a return to military escalation in the region and to pave the way for an agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and peace in the region and the world. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also expressed similar commitments announcing his country was ready to take steps toward deepening regional cooperation, resolving differences and drawing on the shared capabilities of Islamic countries. No announcement was made but Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday hinted at the possibility of “progress” in a meeting of the Makkah Defence Alliance members with Iran, stating that the participants had likely arrived at a “conclusion” to end Saudi Arabia’s conflict with the Houthis. Should this happen, it will be a far reaching and tangible outcome of the Tehran moot and the understanding will go a long way in promoting unity among Muslim countries and removing any misunderstanding about objectives of emerging regional security alliances and accords. Things would become clear in the next few days – whether or not Houthis stop or scale down their provocative attacks against Saudi Arabia and whether Iran makes practical moves to bring the militia to the negotiating table with the KSA. If an understanding in this regard has been arrived at during talks in Tehran, the mediator will hopefully ensure its implementation as well. It is also hoped that behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts will continue to promote Muslim unity, leading to another gathering of the four countries in the foreseeable future.
