Senior security officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey travelled to Tehran on Monday, October 26, in a joint push to stop the eight-month Iran war from flaring back into all-out fighting, as Washington, Tehran and Israel traded warnings that hostilities could resume.

The delegation was led by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin. According to the Associated Press, they met Iran's top security officials and negotiators and pressed for a deal between Tehran and Washington. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also received the visitors.

It was the first joint trip to the Iranian capital by the three countries since they formed a defence alliance in Mecca in August. Qatari mediators, working in coordination with the United States, had visited Tehran a day earlier.

"Very good" talks, but no breakthrough

The meeting ended without any concrete announcement. CBS News reported that the parties agreed to keep talking, and that Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei described the discussions as "very good". No date or venue was set for a follow-up meeting.

Saudi Arabia said the delegations hoped to find "ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the agenda was not fixed but that the talks would "undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security."

Baghaei said Tehran had not closed the door to diplomacy and that messages were still passing through intermediaries. He rejected what he described as repeated US demands for "complete surrender", which he said no Iranian would accept.

Trump weighs next move

The diplomacy comes as US President Donald Trump keeps open the option of a new round of strikes. In a Fox News interview on Sunday, he said: "I have a decision to make: Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal?"

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded that Iran's policies would not change "whether there is war or not". The US-Israeli campaign against Iran began on February 28. A deal brokered by Pakistan and Qatar in June to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launch nuclear talks quickly unravelled as both sides resumed attacks.

In Cairo on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged restraint. "I want to send a loud and clear message to the parties. We need maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions," he told journalists, adding that freedom of navigation must be fully restored in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb.

Houthi strikes widen the war

Yemen has become a widening front. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh and three drones on Monday, and three more ballistic missiles fired towards the Eastern Province on Tuesday. The Houthis said they had targeted Riyadh's airport hours after it reopened, and struck oil pumping stations. Egypt's parliament on Monday approved sending troops to Saudi Arabia in what President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has described as a defensive mission.

Shipping in the Gulf remains under threat. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported a vessel on fire about 63 nautical miles from Al-Faw in Iraq on Monday, days after a tanker was disabled by an unknown projectile as it left the Strait of Hormuz.

What it means for Kenya

For Kenya, which imports all its refined petroleum, the stakes are immediate. Brent crude hovered around $115 a barrel on Monday, according to CBS News, keeping pressure on pump prices ahead of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority's next monthly review on November 14.

The fighting also directly concerns thousands of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, where Houthi missiles and drones have targeted airports and oil installations. A lasting deal would ease both the fuel bill and the safety fears of families back home, but for now Monday's talks have bought time rather than peace.

Photos: Reuters via PBS NewsHour (delegations meet in Tehran); Mohsen Ranginkaman/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (Masoud Pezeshkian)