Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan pledge mutual defense as Middle East turmoil escalates

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, in a wedding of Sunni Muslim U.S. allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, in a wedding of Sunni Muslim U.S. 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 U.S. and ⁠Israel attacked it 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 Defense 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 defense clause. It is purely defensive in nature, pledging mutual support ⁠only for defense,” 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.

However, the three nations are particularly concerned by the increasingly aggressive military stances of both Israel and revolutionary Shia Iran, as their longtime U.S. ally struggles to contain regional upheaval.