Mecca pact mulls talks over strikes on Houthis

Pakistan's foreign minister said Iran has suggested engaging Yemen's Houthis politically after attacks by the group, an idea a committee of the Mecca defence pact will discuss at an emergency meeting in Riyadh next week.

The proposal comes as Saudi Arabia, which has accused the Houthis of targeting Islam's two holiest cities, faces escalating attacks.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, the pact's three members, will decide next steps at the meeting, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told a news conference. He said the date would be confirmed later.

Dar said Iran had distanced itself from the Houthis and Iraqi militias, and that President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi both want 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. It would be discussed as an alternative to "kinetic action".

More than six countries are keen to join the pact, Dar said, without naming them or saying whether all were Muslim-majority nations. New membership requests cannot be entertained until the pact is fully operational, which could take up to a year, he added.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan 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. Their military chiefs met in Riyadh on September 25 and condemned Houthi attacks.

Pakistan's military said in a statement 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.

Dar also said there should be no fee or charges to cross the Strait of Hormuz. The blockaded strait has become the central bargaining chip in efforts to end the nearly seven-month US-Iran conflict.

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Aidan Lewis)