Iran Offers to Broker Saudi Talks With the Houthis as the UAE Asks the Gulf to Defend Together

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi telephoned Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Sunday, 11 October, Reuters reported, the first publicly reported contact between the two since the Houthis intensified their strikes on the kingdom. The Saudi foreign ministry said they discussed “the recent escalation in the region and the efforts being made to address it.” Araghchi’s Telegram channel, as Reuters cited it, said Tehran would help start a dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

On Monday morning Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, wrote on X that “we are all targeted and that our security is indivisible.” His post, as Middle East Eye carried it, does not mention the Iranian call in the excerpts published.

Araghchi offered help with dialogue, and the Saudi ministry’s readout records no reply. Gargash asked the Gulf states to revive joint defence. Trump said of a US response: “We’re gonna look at it.”

The call followed a week of strikes, Reuters reported. The Houthis announced on 5 October, our earlier reporting recorded, that they would hit Saudi airports and refineries. On 10 October a missile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, according to Saudi authorities. Saudi authorities reported 12 dead and about 300 wounded, Al Jazeera reported, and called it the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade. Reuters gave the toll as 13. On 11 October the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said every Saudi airport except those in Mecca and Medina was open to attack, under the formula “airport for airport, blockade for blockade, and escalation for escalation,” as our earlier report set out.

The Saudi account of the call is a single sentence from the state news agency, and it says Araghchi placed the call. The Iranian account reached this desk only through Reuters and Arabic-language Iranian outlets. They report Araghchi offering help in launching dialogue and warning that a military approach in Yemen will complicate the regional situation. The full Iranian text was not available to this desk. Anadolu noted that the Saudi ministry provided no further details.

Gargash posted on Monday. He wrote that “since the onset of the aggression against the Arab Gulf states” it had become clear “that we are all targeted and that our security is indivisible.” Targeting Saudi Arabia, The National reported him writing, “undermines the security of the UAE and all Gulf states.” He called for reviving “joint Gulf action, particularly in its security and defense aspects,” and described “a serious shortcoming, which encouraged others to overstep against us.”

Other capitals spoke over the same two days, according to Al Jazeera’s roundup. Marco Rubio wrote on X: “We stand with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people.” Asked about a US response, Donald Trump said: “We may. We’re gonna look at it.” Qatar’s foreign ministry backed “all legitimate measures” by Riyadh. Oman urged “the voice of wisdom and self-restraint,” according to Al Jazeera, and named no official. Egypt called the attacks a “flagrant violation” of international law, UN envoy Hans Grundberg called them “a grave escalation,” and Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and India condemned them. Beijing’s foreign ministry condemned the Houthi strikes too, Hong Kong’s RTHK reported.

Araghchi proposed dialogue. Gargash proposed collective defence. The excerpts of Gargash’s post published by The National and Middle East Eye do not refer to Araghchi’s offer. The two statements came one day apart.

Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute wrote on 12 October in Responsible Statecraft that “the Houthis’ flight back and forth from Tehran in July 2026 appears to have crossed a red line for the Saudis.” She added that Riyadh appears to be pursuing the first of three options she lists. On her reading, the Houthis’ contact with Tehran is what pushed Riyadh back into the war, and the offer of mediation comes from that same capital.

The Soufan Center’s 12 October IntelBrief reports that Abu Dhabi regards Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as “too willing to accept a compromise with the Houthis.” Gargash’s post asked the Gulf for a common line the morning after the Iranian offer surfaced.

The Soufan Center also reports Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling any Pakistani role “purely defensive” and Türkiye’s Hakan Fidan calling the Mecca pact “defensive in nature.” Oman’s call for restraint sits beside theirs. Rubio’s statement was solidarity, and Trump’s was “we may.”

Saudi Arabia has said nothing about the Iranian proposal beyond its one sentence. A Gulf Cooperation Council defence meeting would show whether Gargash’s call has takers. Saree’s airport formula, “airport for airport,” is the Houthi position to check against. The World Petroleum Congress is under way about 10 kilometres from the Riyadh airport this week, with more than 70 ministers expected, and a strike or a pause around it, as the earlier report noted, will be seen quickly.

As of Monday morning, Tehran has offered mediation, Gargash has asked for solidarity, and Riyadh has answered neither in public.