A huddle in Tehran
Dawn · Khurram Husain ·
The significance of the Tehran huddle lies less in what was said than in the fact that it happened at all, and where.
LAST month, I argued in this space that Iran is emerging as a big regional power to our west. The question I left hanging was whether it would use its newfound centrality to avenge the past or to build a future. Last week offered the first real glimpse of an answer.
On Oct 26, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, Pakistan’s defence chief, and Turkiye’s intelligence chief sat down in Tehran with Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The joint statement that followed was thin, pledging only continued dialogue on regional peace and security. But the significance of the Tehran huddle lies less in what was said than in the fact that it happened at all, and where.
Consider who came. The three visitors are the signatories of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed in August, a pact many read as a hedge against precisely the kind of Iran I described last month. Saudi Arabia was struck repeatedly by Iran during the war, hosted American forces that attacked Iran, and is under fire from the Houthis even now. Yet, the Saudi defence minister led the delegation, and they travelled to Tehran. Not Riyadh, Ankara or Islamabad, nor a neutral venue like Doha or Muscat.