ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia reaffirmed their commitment to continuing joint efforts to confront attacks targeting Makkah Al-Mukarramah, as well as civilian and economic facilities in the kingdom, in accordance with the Makkah Agreement for Joint Defence. "We commended the outcomes of the meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the countries party to the Makkah Agreement for Joint Defence, and discussed the sinful attacks that targeted Makkah Al-Mukarramah, as well as civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom," Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman said in a post on his social media platform X.
"I met with His Excellency the Chief of the Pakistan Army, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces," he further said. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a truce deal proposed by Iran that Tehran said could have reopened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within a week. "I reject their proposal," Trump told reporters outside the White House.
"They made a proposal but I've rejected it." "They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly. They want to make a deal and I think that's fine. I like making a deal too." Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was on his way back to Tehran after attending the UN General Assembly in New York, told CBS News the proposal had been developed "in coordination" with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to an excerpt from the video interview shared by Iranian media.
Iran's plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met earlier in the week with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff. He said the conditions were the same as those laid out in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US earlier this year, which called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade.
On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz. Pezeshkian told CBS that the "process will begin from the very day they accept it". At the UN, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan complained that the "international community has been absent" and failing to live up to the responsibility to keep the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab open.
"The kingdom rejects any party's use of these vital passages as a tool for pressure, threat, or harm to the interests of states," he said, stressing the waterways' importance to global energy security. His Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, told member states that "Russia, together with other responsible states, stands ready to constructively contribute to stabilising this strategically important region." In New York, Pezeshkian met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to his office, and said: "Iran has not walked away from the negotiating table but, given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States." Araghchi said at the UN: "Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan.
If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days." "The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure," he added. However, within hours of his comments The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was sceptical that Tehran would meet his demands and expects to renew the US bombing campaign.
Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labelled "Trump Strait". Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: "We will not cease punishing the US until Iran's seven conditions are met." Mohebi had told The Iraqi government said Saturday it is in talks with the United States to seek an exemption from sanctions on Iranian airlines, which have disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.
All Iraqi airports enforced the US ban this week, resulting in major disruption at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf, the main destination in Iraq for Iranian flights. "The Iraqi government is holding direct talks with the American side to exempt certain Iraqi airports from these measures," the prime minister's media office said. An exemption, it added, would allow flights to resume "for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians".
The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday it had intercepted drones and ballistic missiles, as the Iran-backed group launched fresh attacks, including on Riyadh, despite international condemnation. The strikes were the latest in a series of escalating Houthi attacks since July, when renewed hostilities shattered a years-long truce and embroiled Yemen in the wider Middle East war. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday its air defences "intercepted and destroyed two drones launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the Riyadh area".
Saudi air defences also intercepted and destroyed two Houthi-launched ballistic missiles targeting Khamis Mushait, a city in the country's southwest that is home to an air base, the spokesman said. Hezam Al-Assad, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, said on Saturday that "Despite the operation's strength, scope, and impact, our armed forces view it as merely a small-scale rehearsal for a full-scale escalation." Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, denounced the Houthi attacks on Saturday.
"This dangerous escalation constitutes a flagrant violation of the Kingdom's sovereignty and poses a direct threat to the security and safety of.