R4 ministers reaffirm support for Saudi Arabia
DPM Dar, his Saudi, Turkish and Egyptian counterparts review regional developments, with Mideast situation on focus, says FO
Amid Houthi attacks
istanbul
Foreign Minister/DPM Ishaq Dar on Friday met the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the sixth Regional Four (R-4) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the wake of recent Houthi attacks on the kingdom.
Diplomatic observers say the R-4 grouping is gradually positioning itself as a stabilising middle-tier platform, bridging Gulf, South Asian and Eastern Mediterranean perspectives, at a time when traditional alliances are being recalibrated in the aftermath of the Iran-US conflict.
The Istanbul meeting comes in the backdrop of increasing Houthi attacks on Saudi oil and civilian infrastructure that have reached an unprecedented scale and several conflicts that are converging around the same strategic fault lines that include regional security, energy supplies, maritime routes and the risk of wider war.
FM Dar is currently in Istanbul to attend the R-4 Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
In a post on X, the FO said that FM Dar participated in the 6th R-4 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Istanbul, alongside Turkiye FM Hakan Fidan, Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Egyptian FM Badr Abdelatty.
According to the FO statement, the foreign ministers expressed “solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed their support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, further condemning the Houthi attacks targeting the Kingdom and underscoring the importance of respecting state sovereignty”.
FO stated that the ministers reviewed regional developments since their last meeting in New York, with particular focus on the situation in the Middle East and related security challenges/ conflicts.
The statement further noted that the ministers discussed ways to strengthen regional coordination and advance diplomatic efforts to promote lasting peace, security, and stability.
In a separate meeting of R-4 with the foreign ministers of Germany, France, the UK and Italy, developments in the Gulf region amid ongoing US-Iran tensions came under discussion.
In a post on X, FO said that the “meeting provided an opportunity for exchange of views on regional developments in the Gulf region, their social and economic impacts, and the urgent need to foster diplomatic engagement to resolve regional challenges of peace, security, and stability”.
