Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign Mecca joint defence pact

On 7 August, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan concluded the Mecca Joint Defence agreement, a mutual-defence pact that obliges each signatory to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. The deal was announced as the three countries seek to bolster security cooperation after a series of Iranian-linked retaliatory strikes following the February killing of Iran’s supreme leader.

Turkey, which fields the second-largest army in NATO, Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, and nuclear-armed Pakistan, described the pact as a way to “defend themselves in a more meaningful way,” according to statements from the leaders.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the alignment is “a response to the conflict and a way for some of these actors to try and secure themselves,” adding that it reflects concerns over Israel’s “increasing regional aggressiveness.”

Galip Dalay, senior research fellow for the Middle East and North Africa at Chatham House, noted that while the United States remains “indispensable for the region, it is also unpredictable and unreliable,” and argued that the pact signals a “post-Abrahamic regional reordering.”

The agreement does not constitute a formal alliance with non-regional powers; all three states maintain close ties with Washington. Lovatt said the bloc is “not a threat to US regional ambitions” unless it were to partner with Russia or China, and suggested it could enhance diplomatic coordination among its members.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan likened the pact to NATO’s collective-defence clause and indicated that other countries, such as Egypt, could be invited to join.

The Mecca pact has yet to be tested in combat, and its impact will likely be measured in diplomatic initiatives and regional security cooperation.