Wire reporting: (Reuters, via Daily Maverick)

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's defence and interior ministers told parliament on Thursday that a meeting in Tehran with Iran and partners in the Makkah defence pact was not a defence session, answering criticism from opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman¹.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in the National Assembly that no defence pact was taking shape in Tehran and that the talks were not his ministry's mandate, so he was not needed there¹. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the Senate he and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir went to handle what he called an Iran crisis on the prime minister's instructions¹.

On Wednesday, Fazl, head of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, had noted a defence-related gathering in Iran while Asif remained in Islamabad and asked why Naqvi was required there¹. Asif called the criticism misplaced and said Munir had taken on a role of peace and dialogue after last year's military conflict with India¹.

The Tehran huddle on Monday brought together Munir, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei^2,3. Iranian state television also showed Naqvi at the table³.

Participants agreed to keep talking on cooperation, including regional peace and security, Dawn reported, with no immediate public deal after about two hours². Pezeshkian said Iran supported understanding aimed at unity among Islamic nations^2,3.

Saudi officials described the trip as support for mediation by Qatar and Pakistan and for de-escalation^2,3,8. Iranian officials said Munir had proposed the meeting during a visit the previous week^1,2,3. Ali Bagheri of Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed the visitors and said Tehran sought security managed by regional states⁷.

The Makkah, or Mecca, Joint Defence Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all^3,8. Independent reporting on the visit, much of it Reuters copy carried by other outlets, placed it against Houthi attacks on Saudi targets and wider U.S.-Iran tension; the Reuters original could not be opened here^4,6,8,10.

Asif said Pakistan had signed the Makkah pact and a Badr memorandum as defence minister, and that Munir had helped avert a worse confrontation over Yemen¹. What, if anything, the Tehran talks change on the ground remains unstated by the four governments².