ByREUTERS

A committee of the Mecca defense pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold talks in Riyadh on Monday, with Turkish ministers among those attending, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The leader of Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced on Sunday the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis earlier on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control.

Committee to discuss engaging Houthis politically

Pakistan's foreign minister said on Friday that Iran had suggested engaging Yemen's Houthis politically after attacks by the group, an idea that the Mecca defense pact committee would discuss at a meeting in Riyadh this week.

Iran-aligned Houthi fighters move next to a destroyed vehicle following what the source described as an attack on Saudi-backed forces in the location given by the source as al Jawf governorate, Yemen, in this screengrab taken from a video released by Houthi Military Media on September 15, 2026.
Iran-aligned Houthi fighters move next to a destroyed vehicle following what the source described as an attack on Saudi-backed forces in the location given by the source as al Jawf governorate, Yemen, in this screengrab taken from a video released by Houthi Military Media on September 15, 2026. (credit: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)

"The meeting will address recent developments in the region and the stage reached in the Alliance’s institutionalization efforts," the Turkish statement said.

It said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and chief of the general staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu would attend the meeting of the pact's strategic political and defense committee, along with officials from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.