ISLAMABAD – The Strategic Political and Defense Committee (SPDC) of the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement will hold an emergency meeting in Riyadh next week to discuss possible political engagement with Yemen's Houthi group, Pakistan's deputy prime minister said on Friday.

The proposal had been put forward by Iran, which hoped the matter would be resolved as soon as possible, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who is also the foreign minister of Pakistan, said at a press briefing in Islamabad.

He stressed that the proposal had not been put into a formal written text and was only a verbal understanding between him and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Dar said he had briefed the Iranian side on the contents of the defense agreement and on how Pakistan would implement it.

He disclosed that at least six countries hoped to join the defense agreement, but he did not name them. No new members would be admitted before the agreement was fully operational, he added.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the defense agreement in August, under which an armed attack against any one of the three countries is to be treated as an attack against all three. Military leaders of the three countries met in Riyadh on Sept 25 and condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.