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Delegations meet in Iran with Mideast region on edge over potential for renewed fighting · Best of: Features

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  Delegations meet in Huron with Medist region on edge over potential for
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  renewed fighting Written by Sammy MAGD. This article is being read
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  by an automated voice generated by Everlet. Cairo, the AP. High level
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  delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday
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  for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting in
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  the Iran War. Many in Iran are anxious about a possible return
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  to all out war. Israeli and American leaders have been sharpening their
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  threats before elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant.
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  Them, war in Yemen and strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi
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  Arabia were also discussed, according to Tu regional officials who spoke on
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  condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with reporters. The
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  four countries agreed Monday to continue talks on expanding cooperation among them,
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  particularly about regional peace and security, a statement said. No details were
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  given about a date or place for a future meeting. Saudi Defense
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  Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and
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  Ibrahim Khalin, the head of Turkey's intelligence service, attended the talks, Hustoud
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  by Major General Mosin Rezay, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
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  Iranian President Masood Pazeshkin said Monday that Iran supports any agreement that
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  would deepen region cooperation, resolve differences, and make greater use of the
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  shared resources and capabilities of Islamic countries. Delegations from the other Middle
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  Eastern countries sought to avoid further turmoil in the region. Turkish President
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  Rekoptaipe Erdogan warned in a televised address on Monday that renewed attacks
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  on Iran would destabilize the regional and hurt countries that aren't party
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  to the conflict. It is our hope that all parties will refrain
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  from any actions that could drag our region into a new spiral
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  of violence, Erdogan said. Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the
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  delegations hope to find ways to de escalate tensions, enhance regional security,
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  and promote its stability. Qatari mediators also traveled to Tehran on Sunday,
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  working in coordination with the United States as part of efforts to
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  de escalate regional tensions, according to a regional official speaking on condition
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  of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Pakistan and Qatar
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  helped broker an agreement in June aimed at having Iran fully reopen
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  the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, ending a US blockade of Iranian
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  ports, and opening negotiations on a broader settlement addressing Iran's nuclear program.
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  The deal unraveled quickly, however, as both sides renewed attacks. Eon and
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  Israel trade accusations. With worries about renewed fighting before Israel's election on
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  Tuesday and the US midterm election on november third, Iranian Foreign Ministry
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  spokesperson Esmail Bagai said over the weekend that Iran hadn't closed the
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  window of diplomacy, and that messages were being passed to the US
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  through intermediaries. With negotiations long stalled, he said that the US appears
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  to be persisting in unilateral demands, and than US President Donald Trump
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  and other American officials repeatedly used the phrase complete surrender, which Bagaye
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  said no Iranian accepts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, repeated his
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  warning on Sunday that Iran or its proxies could launch an attack
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  before the election to disrupt the vote, citing intelligence. The military is
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  ready both to defend and to strike, he said in a video
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  statement. You will suffer disproportionate blows far greater than you can imagine.
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  Israel's Channel twelve reported Sunday night that Netanyahu and his military chief
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  of staff clashed over an instruction by Netanyahu to carry out an
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  action that the army believes could quickly trigger a resumption of the
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  conflict with Iran. Netanyahu's office later described the report as fake news.
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  In Tehran, when asked whether Iran was planning attacks, Bagai on Monday
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  said that the Israeli regime is highly skilled at carrying out false
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  flag operations. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise
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  its inherent right to self defense, to protect Iran's sovereignty, territorial integrity,
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  and independence, he said. Front in the Iran War widens. Yemen has
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  become a widening front in the Iran War that began in February,
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  with the Houthis increasingly launching attacks on Saudi Arabia because it supports
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  Yemen's internationally recognized government battling the rebels. The conflict has intensified
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  since forces from the internationally recognized government and Saudi led coalition launched
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  airstrikes on Houthiheld Sena International Airport in July, shattering a twenty twenty
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  two ceasefire deal that largely stopped the fighting in Yemen's civil war.
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  Early Monday, Houthis, military spokesperson Yahya Sari said that the rebel group
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  had fired ballistic missiles at military gatherings and weapons depots belonging to
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  Saudi backed government forces in Aden and Laj provinces. He said that
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  the attacks destroyed military equipment and caused casualties, but didn't provide evidence.
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  The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the information. Hoothi media said that
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  airstrikes targeted a solar power system and a water well in Sana'a,
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  but offered no proof. In the port city of Mocha, recently seized
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  by the Houthis, residents said that rockets hit several buildings, including a
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  hospital. Doctors Without Borders, or Medecin Sans Frontières, said Monday that three
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  strikes hit Mocha, one landing just one hundred and fifty meters nearly
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  five hundred feet from Mocha General Hospital, where its teams work in
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  maternity and pediatric wards. The statement came after the Houthi Run Health
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  Ministry accused Saudi backed forces of targeting the hospital. The Saudi backed
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  forces haven't commented. All staff and patients were safe, MSF said adding
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  that the strike damaged the hospital building. Days earlier, a missiles, struck
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  near Aidens Airport as an MSF plane carrying humanitarian workers was preparing
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  to take off, forcing staff to seek shelter instead of boarding. The
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  organization said, Aidens Airport is the main entry point for humanitarian workers,
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  supplies, and medical equipment to the southern parts of Yemen. Houthi Run
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  al Masira Channel also reported strikes in Sada, in northern Yemen, and
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  in southwestern Taiz province, where the rebels and Saudi backed government forces
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  have been fighting for weeks. The spokesperson for the Saudi led coalition
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  said that, an operation in Houthi controlled territory, destroyed five tunnels used
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  for storing ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchers, and other missile storage.
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  Meanwhile, Egypt's parliament on Monday approved a request from President Abdelfata el-Sisi
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  to provide military support to Saudi Arabia to help defend against Houthi
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  attacks. Victoria Eastwood and Fatma Khalid in Cairo, Natalie Melzer in Tel
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  Aviv, Israel, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Ahmed Al Hajj in Aden, Yemen,
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  and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.