Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have signed a joint defence agreement, pledging that an attack on any one of them will be considered an attack on all three. The pact was announced on Friday, August 7th, 2026, during a meeting in the Saudi city of Mecca attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence against aggression and enhance all aspects of defence cooperation among the three states. It also opens opportunities for joint production, technology partnerships, procurement, and greater military interoperability, according to Burcu Ozcelik of the London-based Royal United Services Institute.

This agreement comes amid heightened conflict in the Middle East. Following a US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28th, Tehran and its allies retaliated by targeting Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Last month, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, controlling much of north-west Yemen, announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and targeted Saudi airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had previously announced a joint defence pact last year. The new tripartite agreement reflects a recalibration of defence strategies across the Gulf region.

However, the pact has drawn criticism from Tehran. Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of Iran's National Security Commission, wrote on his X account that "a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan does not bring [Saudi Arabia] security, just as years of unilateral milking of the Americans did not bring them security."

Sources