Photo via The Guardian

Gulf states working on multipart peace deal to avert renewal of US-Iran war

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

editor, P. W. D. (2026, October 28). Gulf states working on multipart peace deal to avert renewal of US-Iran war. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/28/gulf-states-multipart-peace-deal-avert-renewal-us-iran-war

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-28 · by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Quick Summary

Gulf states are working on a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and for the Houthis in Yemen to withdraw forces as part of efforts to prevent renewed conflict between Iran and the US. The US wants Iran to allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country, while Iran insists on economic sanctions relief before making concessions. Talks involve multiple countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and European diplomats, with a focus on reducing the US presence in the Middle East and establishing a non-aggression pact that includes Iran.
Written by AI on 2026-10-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 26, top officials from the Mecca Pact countries—Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan—met with Iranian officials in Tehran to discuss regional security. The meeting involved Prince Khalid bin Salman (Saudi defense minister), Field Marshal Asim Munir (Pakistan’s army chief and Chief of Defence Forces), and Ibrahim Kalin (Turkish intelligence chief). They discussed strategies to ease tensions amid the re-escalation of conflicts in the region, particularly regarding the Houthi conflict in Yemen. The meeting aimed to prevent a flare-up between Iran and other regional or global powers like the US and Israel. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif later clarified that his non-participation in these discussions was due to it not being under his ministry's mandate, responding to criticism from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Written for “Tehran Huddle Talks” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tehran Huddle Talks
Politics · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Hindu
Hedges 4 of 18 claims Outlet record 77/100
“The articles describe different developments related to potential military conflict and peace negotiations between the US and Iran, rather than a single specific incident.”
Times of India
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles describe different aspects of regional diplomacy but do not report on the same specific meeting or incident.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different discussions and initiatives related to US-Iran tensions but do not refer to the same specific meeting or incident.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
Dawn
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different aspects of diplomatic efforts: one focuses on Gulf states' plans for a peace deal involving sanctions and military withdrawal, while the other reports on President Trump's claims that outreach to Iran was about medical supplies rather than peace talks.”
Semafor
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 1 of 7 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles describe different phases or aspects of ongoing negotiations rather than a single, identical incident.”
Dawn
Outlet record 72/100
“The articles discuss related topics but describe different events: Article A is an editorial opinion against aggression towards Iran, while Article B reports on ongoing peace talks involving Gulf states and other nations to prevent a US-Iran war.”
The Hindu
Hedges 1 of 7 claims Outlet record 77/100
“The articles describe different aspects of a broader situation; Article A discusses ongoing peace talks and plans, while Article B reports on Iran's official stance against holding talks with the US.”
Prudent warning Different event
Dawn
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 4 of 22 claims Outlet record 72/100
“Article A discusses a meeting in Istanbul where foreign ministers expressed opposition to military intervention in Iran, while Article B focuses on ongoing peace talks involving Gulf states and a multipronged peace deal to prevent renewed conflict between the US and Iran.”
The Straits Times
Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss peace negotiations involving Iran, the US, and Gulf states, Article A focuses on the content of a proposed deal including sanctions lifting and UN weapons inspections, whereas Article B emphasizes Iran's rejection of a new draft proposal presented by Qatari mediators.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
24
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2969 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The billboard pledged in English: “We will kill Trump” – elevating the degree of personal animus with which Donald Trump is viewed in official Iranian circles.
🔮 Dapo Akande will now serve as one of the ICJ’s 15 judges for a minimum nine-year term.
🔮 There had been fierce criticism of the UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s decision in September to impose a trade ban and wider sanctions on illegal settlements, with some claiming it would drive Israeli voters into the arms of Benjamin Netanyahu.
🔮 Officials from the Gulf states are “braced for the worst” as they wait for Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait of Hormuz before the US midterm elections on Tuesday.
🔮 Any US president would have had to address the Iran issue, itself a product of system failure, the inability of the multilateral system to incorporate and change Iran.
🔮 Iran would portray either a reduction or complete withdrawal of US forces from the Gulf region as “a strategic success and vindication of its steadfastness, but also use it to embarrass the Gulf states about their decades-long courtship of US protection”.
🔮 Vowing the people of Taiz would resist until the end, he said statements of solidarity were of no use and that what was needed was access for aid agencies, including the UN, to deliver supplies to the city.
🔮 Lingering hopes of averting a major new conflagration between Iran and the US soon after Tuesday’s midterm elections could rest on Iran’s response to a personal letter from the US vice-president, JD Vance, offering to restart diplomacy.
🔮 The US is aware of the talks’ progress but is holding out for a concession that European powers suggest could involve Iran allowing UN weapons inspectors back into the country.
🔮 Security officials and diplomats at Monday’s meeting were expected to discuss how Iran could persuade the Houthis in Yemen to end their crippling missile and drone attacks on infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Also by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor →

Topics

European Houthis Iran Saudi Arabia Yemen

Subjects

Iran GPE · 20× Houthis NORP · 3× Saudi Arabia GPE · 3× Yemen GPE · 3× European NORP · 2× Houthi PERSON · 2× Pakistan GPE · 2× Turkey GPE · 2× British NORP · 1× Hormuz GPE · 1×

Narrative

Iran successfully prevented discussion of its nuclear programme at the meeting with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and instead ensured the focus was a broader discussion about a long-term regional security vision that would include the Gulf states and Iran and see the US presence in the Middle East reduced or ended.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-28
🔮 The US is aware of the talks’ progress but is holding out for a concession that European powers suggest could involve Iran allowing UN weapons inspectors back into the country.
2026-10-28 · The Guardian
Gulf states working on multipart peace deal to avert renewal of US-Iran war · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 2 hedged)

A multipronged peace deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz within four days of sanctions being lifted and for the Houthis to withdraw substantial forces inside Yemen are at the heart of Gulf states’ plans to avert what they regard as a disastrous renewal of war between Iran and the US. asserted
they → reopen → Iran
The US is aware of the talks’ progress but is holding out for a concession that European powers suggest could involve Iran allowing UN weapons inspectors back into the country. uncertain
Iran → hold → country
The British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, urged the Iranians to agree to readmit the UN weapons inspectors when he met the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in New York but so far Iran has refused, saying it will only hold talks in principle on its nuclear programme. asserted
it → urge → programme
European diplomats believe allowing weapons inspectors to reenter Iran and visit its bombed nuclear sites is a minimum requirement for a breakthrough with the US president, Donald Trump. asserted
inspectors → believe → president
But Iran remains focused solely on the guarantees of sanctions relief it would receive in return for reopening the strait of Hormuz. asserted
it → remain → Hormuz
Dr Ali Bagheri, the deputy secretary of Iran’s national security council, said Iran was willing to reduce its proposal that the strait reopen seven days after economic sanctions are lifted to four days. asserted
sanctions → say → days
In a further sign of flexibility, Iran is starting to acknowledge it has a mediating role in the parallel conflict in Yemen. asserted
it → start → Yemen
Iran’s secretary of the supreme national security council, Mohsen Rezaei, met the Houthi’s ambassador to Iran, Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, on Tuesday. asserted
secretary → meet → Tuesday
The meeting took place 24 hours after a high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan travelled to Tehran to discuss Saudi terms for ending the Yemen conflict as well as a longer-term security architecture for the region. asserted
delegation → take → region
Iran backs the Houthis, and has the power to influence them, including devising proposals that stop short of a Houthi military victory that many say is unobtainable. asserted
many → back → victory
In return the Houthis are demanding that Saudi Arabia lift what it regards as a naval and air blockade on Houthi-held territory. asserted
it → demand → territory
Iran successfully prevented discussion of its nuclear programme at the meeting with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and instead ensured the focus was a broader discussion about a long-term regional security vision that would include the Gulf states and Iran and see the US presence in the Middle East reduced or ended. asserted
presence → prevent → East
A new non-aggression pact in which Iran is no longer ostracised by the rest of the Gulf, as it has been since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, would meet Iran’s highest strategic goal. asserted
it → ostracise → goal
An agreed commitment to this goal by six Gulf states might also make it easier for Iran to swallow potentially difficult tactical concessions that it would be required to make concerning its nuclear programme. uncertain
it → agree → programme
One of the key advocates of the inclusive security plan, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said he believed the US administration understood this was the direction the region is heading. asserted
region → say → plan
He said: “I think if Iran is fully re-engaged in this idea of having all of us, eight countries at peace with the rest of the world, the economic potential is going to be enormous for all of us in the region and those outside the region who choose to take part in this development. asserted
who → say → development
We have really discussed this in at length during the talks between Iran and the United States, and I think there is general acceptance that this will be the direction of travel once we have a deal in place at the end of the day.” asserted
we → discuss → day
At a televised event in Iran this week Araghchi underlined the importance of a new postwar security pact to Iran, saying: “Recently, there has been talk of a new war but I am already thinking about the postwar period. asserted
I → televise → period
Whether there is war or not, our policies remain the same.” asserted
policies → be → ?
💬Give feedback · no sign-in needed

No sign-in needed for now. Your note is sent without a name, so it cannot be answered.

🕘History 🎫Support