Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt have expressed solidarity with Riyadh and condemned recent Houthi attacks targeting the kingdom during a meeting of their foreign ministers in Istanbul, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar attended the sixth Regional Four (R4) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The ministers reviewed regional developments since their previous meeting in New York in September, focusing on the West Asia, security challenges and ongoing conflicts. They reaffirmed their support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and stressed the importance of respecting state sovereignty, according to the FO.
“They discussed ways to strengthen regional coordination and advance diplomatic efforts to promote lasting peace, security, and stability,” the statement said.
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The R4 grouping, comprising Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, emerged in March and has focused on regional security and mediation efforts between the US and Iran.
A broader meeting involving France, Germany, Italy and the UK is also being held in Istanbul.
Dar held separate bilateral meetings with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts on the sidelines of the R4 gathering and talks involving European foreign ministers.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s office said discussions would focus on the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Saudi Arabia. Miliband was expected to advocate a diplomatic solution to the crisis around Hormuz that would restore full freedom of navigation.
He would also highlight what the British government described as the spread of Iranian tactics across the region, arguing that attacks on Saudi Arabia were adding to instability and increasing pressure on key maritime routes, including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal.
France confirmed that the talks would address the Iranian crisis and its wider implications, describing the gathering as the first meeting in this format amid significant regional uncertainty.
The French foreign ministry said the meeting aimed to “strengthen coordination between Europeans and Middle Eastern countries in the face of crises that we did not choose and that affect us all.”
A Turkish diplomatic source said the seven countries would meet in the R4-plus-European Three (E3) format for the first time at Türkiye’s initiative, as conflicts involving Iran, Yemen and Ukraine pose challenges to regional security and international shipping.
Fidan was expected to stress the need for a diplomatic resolution to the war between the US and Iran, the importance of freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, and Türkiye’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security amid Houthi attacks.
The Turkish position also draws on the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement signed by Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia on August 7, which is geared towards strengthening collective deterrence and provides for its signatories to treat an attack against one member as an attack against all.
