There is something faintly absurd about three countries forming a military alliance to defend themselves against aggression, then rushing to the capital of the country they suspect of encouraging that aggression, pleading for peace. Yet this was the spectacle in Tehran on 26 October, when senior representatives of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan arrived for talks with the Iranian regime.

Tehran hailed the meeting as a success. Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, spoke enthusiastically about a positive new atmosphere. The four countries agreed to continue talking. That was about it. No binding agreement to halt Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. No enforceable guarantees. No evidence of any miraculous conversion to peaceful coexistence. The mullahs must have been delighted.

During my 15 years in the European Parliament, including five years as president of its Delegation for Relations with Iraq, I became thoroughly familiar with Tehran's methods of extending its influence beyond its borders. Iraq provided a disturbing example of how the regime exploited political instability, cultivated armed militias and interfered in neighbouring states. I learned to distinguish between what Iranian officials said across the negotiating table and what their regime was doing elsewhere. The difference was frequently alarming.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in August, supposedly provides collective protection against external aggression. An attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all. It sounds reassuringly like NATO. But the three countries have different interests and attitudes towards Tehran. Saudi Arabia has suffered repeated attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Pakistan shares a sensitive border with Iran and has little appetite for confrontation. Turkey maintains extensive commercial........

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