Iran's foreign minister says talks with Saudi Arabia are ongoing; Yemen fighting intensifies

Talks between ​Iran and Saudi Arabia are ​ongoing as Tehran ‌aims to ​reach new regional security arrangements for countries in the region without foreign military involvement, Iranian ‌Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X on Tuesday.

Last week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran, ‌the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations ‌since August. The US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February and since then, fighting has spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Riyadh said the visit ⁠was intended ​to open ⁠negotiating channels to "prevent the return of military escalation," as fighting between Saudi Arabia and ⁠Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis had intensified in recent weeks.

Houthi attacks on the kingdom ​escalated as the powerful militia advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb ⁠Strait, a key shipping chokepoint that lies on the opposite side of the Arabian ⁠Peninsula ​from the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis have also attacked Saudi oil facilities and airports including Riyadh's international airport, disrupting flights ⁠and oil exports and drawing Saudi airstrikes on Yemen in response.

Impoverished Yemen ⁠has been ⁠mired in a civil war since the Houthis pushed the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government out of the capital, ‌Sanaa, ‌in 2014.