Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday (Aug 7), wedding Sunni Muslim US allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.
Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the US and Israel attacked it on Feb 28 in a major escalation after years of regional tumult.
The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all, they said in a joint statement.
While the statement did not give specifics on the commitments or obligations each had accepted under the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement”, it said the pact was aimed at strengthening their collective security and promoting peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.
“The pact includes a collective defence clause. It is purely defensive in nature, pledging mutual support only for defence,” a Turkish official said.
The agreement was not directed against any specific actor, was open to other regional countries, and did not abrogate or replace any existing bilateral or multilateral arrangements, the official added.
