Iran's Foreign Minister says talks with Saudi Arabia are ongoing; Yemen fighting intensifies

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. File photo | Photo Credit: Reuters 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 (November 3, 2026).Last ‌week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan met ‌Iranian officials in Tehran, the ‌first ⁠high-level contact between Iran and ⁠the three nations since August. The U.S.-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. Published - November 03, 2026 12:59 pm IST