Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Trilateral 'Mecca' Defense Pact

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed a trilateral defense pact known as the "Mecca Pact" in Mecca on Friday, August 7, 2026 (16 Mordad 1405). According to Al Jazeera and Anadolu Agency, whose coverage was also carried by Reuters, the agreement states that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.

The pact was signed amid the US Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in response to regional tensions that Tehran does not seek war or territorial expansion but will not yield to coercion. Yahya Saree, military spokesman for Yemen's Houthi run armed forces, said the same day that new pacts would not affect the group's siege for siege approach against Saudi Arabia.

The trilateral agreement, also reported inside Iran by Donya e Eqtesad, could reshape the security architecture of the Persian Gulf and West Asia amid one of the most severe disruptions to oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in decades.