Pakistan 'cautiously optimistic' on US-Iran mediation as Mecca defence pact widens

Pakistan's military spokesman said the army is "cautiously optimistic" about mediation between Iran and the United States, after Field Marshal Asim Munir twice visited Tehran this month, most recently with Saudi and Turkish officials, while Qatari mediators also arrived to try to revive the collapsed June ceasefire. The August Mecca Joint Defence Agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey treats an attack on one as an attack on all, and Pakistan says Iran could join. The eight-month war is reshaping Middle East alliances, and renewed Houthi-Saudi fighting shows how readily it could widen into a larger regional conflict.