Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Mutual Defense Pact in Mecca

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a mutual defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, committing the three governments to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all. The pact, called the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, was signed during a meeting of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Policy reported. Agence France-Presse, in a report carried by the Kuwait Times, said Sharif traveled to Saudi Arabia with Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir.

Foreign Policy quoted a trilateral statement saying any armed attack against one of the three states “shall be regarded as an attack against them all.” AFP reported that Pakistan’s foreign ministry described the pact as “intended to strengthen collective deterrence.” The text of the agreement has not been released, and Morocco World News noted that the precise military obligations have not been made public.

The signing comes against a tense regional backdrop. AFP said it came amid Houthi attacks and the U.S.-Iran war, and Morocco World News pointed to Iranian drone and missile strikes affecting Gulf infrastructure and disruptions to trade through the Strait of Hormuz. A source close to the Saudi military told AFP the deal had been under discussion for a long time but that recent developments accelerated it. Reuters, as cited by Morocco World News, reported that the pact capped nearly a year of quiet negotiations.

Officials moved quickly to play down any wider aim. Erdogan said the pact is not aimed at any one country, Foreign Policy reported. A Turkish official told Reuters it is “purely defensive,” open to other regional states, and does not supersede existing alliances, Morocco World News reported. Saudi deputy minister Rayed Krimly said it is not linked to nuclear ambitions or an arms race, and not an effort to form a military axis or sectarian bloc, according to Foreign Policy.

The nuclear question hangs over the deal anyway. Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority state, but Foreign Policy reported that it has downplayed the idea of extending its nuclear capabilities to allies, and AFP’s report mentions no nuclear provisions. Foreign Policy added that Pakistan has not responded militarily to Iran’s recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, so how far the commitment goes remains unclear.

The pact builds on a Saudi-Pakistani mutual defense agreement signed in September 2025. Foreign Policy said the three countries have cooperated militarily for decades: Pakistan has trained Saudi forces, and Riyadh has bought Turkish drones. Last month, Pakistan and Turkey backed a Saudi-proposed maritime defense coalition to protect shipping routes.

For Washington, the agreement is a sign of Gulf governments widening their security networks. Morocco World News said they are doing so while keeping their primary defense ties with the United States. Turkey is a NATO member with the alliance’s second-largest military, and Foreign Policy noted that Saudi Arabia recently signed a pact with the U.S. to develop a civilian nuclear program. Pakistan, for its part, has sought to mediate efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war, AFP reported.

Reaction was limited on the first day. Israel had not responded as of Foreign Policy’s report, though it noted that Turkey-Israel tensions have been rising. Ebrahim Rezaei, an Iranian politician, dismissed the pact on social media as a “paper agreement.”