Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkiye have officially entered into a collective defence agreement, known as the Mecca Joint Deterrence Agreement. The pact was signed in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The agreement establishes a framework for collective deterrence, stipulating that an armed attack against any one of the three signatory nations will be treated as an attack against all of them. This move is intended to bolster regional security and stability, according to a joint statement from the partners.
In a formal statement, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the joint defence deal is guided by the longstanding historical ties among the three states, based on the enduring bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity that unite them. The agreement reflects the shared commitment of the three nations to further strengthening their collective security architecture and promoting regional peace. The signing occurred shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by powerful army chief Asim Munir, arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca, while President Erdogan traveled to the kingdom specifically for the high-level meeting with the Crown Prince.
Here’s what we know about what this pact contains: The agreement focuses on capacity building, leveraging Turkey’s defence-industrial capabilities, Saudi Arabia’s financial muscle and regional influence, and Pakistan’s extensive military experience and strategic deterrent. It is designed to provide a robust mechanism for mutual protection, effectively signaling a shift toward regional self-reliance. As one official noted, the goal is to reform national policies so that these states do not need to rely on external powers for their fundamental security requirements.
The defence agreement between Ankara, Riyadh, and Islamabad has been in the making for some time. Negotiations began soon after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the onset of the subsequent Israeli genocide in Gaza, gaining significant pace amid the US and Israel’s ongoing war on Iran. While Turkiye and Pakistan have not been directly impacted by tensions in the region so far, Saudi Arabia, which hosts US military assets and infrastructure, has come under attack from Iran and its allies, the Houthis in Yemen. Tehran has also attacked other Gulf nations and Jordan, which also host US military assets, further complicating the regional security landscape.
The three nations have been particularly concerned about the impact of Iran’s war and Israel’s growing influence and military operations on the region. Israel has occupied roughly one-fifth of Lebanon as it allegedly targets strongholds of the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran. Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar noted that, according to officials, the escalating regional tensions have forced these countries to come together. “Post-October 7 has changed the region dramatically, with the Israeli actions and expansionism. And now there is the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing attacks on Iran, as well as Iran’s response to the regional countries,” he said.
“So there have been several layers of necessity converging, and forcing these three big countries to come together and sign this binding agreement,” Serdar added. The pact also explicitly condemns any notion of a so-called “Greater Israel.” This diplomatic stance aligns with broader concerns regarding regional territorial integrity and the shifting balance of power. The agreement is viewed by analysts as a strategic response to the perceived instability caused by the ongoing conflict between Israel and its neighbors, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
On March 19 of this year, the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh during an Islamic summit, where they discussed the potential framework for a joint security agreement. Before this meeting, in September 2025, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already signed a mutual defence agreement. That earlier pact came in the wake of an Israeli attack on the Qatari capital, Doha, on September 9, 2025, which served as a catalyst for deeper military cooperation among regional powers.
In a July 20 report, Yasmine Farouk, the project director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula region at the International Crisis Group, wrote that closer defence ties between Turkiye, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt reflect a hard-won realization among these states. “Many officials in these countries had reached this conclusion before the US and Israel launched their assault on Iran in late February. But the war and subsequent Iranian retaliation, including both missile and drone strikes on Gulf Arab states and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, lent it fresh and urgent impetus,” she noted.
Farouk also observed that several Israeli and US commentators have characterized these nations’ joint security dynamics as an “anti-Israel or anti-Israel/UAE bloc of Sunni states.” This perception has been fueled by rhetoric from various officials. In February this year, during a conference in Jerusalem, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett alleged that Turkiye is “the new Iran” and claimed that Ankara is attempting to turn Saudi Arabia against Israel to build a hostile Sunni axis with Pakistan.
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the managing director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ South and Wider Europe office, noted that the three countries share a broadly state-centric view of regional stability. Despite their internal differences, they tend to prioritize strong central governments and regional sovereignty. This shared perspective has helped bridge the gap between their respective foreign policy priorities, allowing them to focus on the common threat of regional instability.
The trilateral deal is understood to build on a pact already in place between Ankara and Islamabad, effectively creating a broader security umbrella. By integrating their military and industrial resources, the three nations hope to create a credible deterrent that can withstand the pressures of the current geopolitical environment. The agreement is expected to be followed by a series of joint military exercises and intelligence-sharing protocols designed to operationalize the deterrence framework.
As the region continues to grapple with the fallout from the conflict in Gaza and the broader tensions involving Iran, the Mecca Joint Deterrence Agreement represents a significant shift in the regional order. Whether this pact will successfully deter future aggression remains to be seen, but it marks a clear departure from the previous reliance on external security guarantees. The signatories have signaled that they are prepared to act collectively to protect their interests, marking a new chapter in the security cooperation of the Islamic world.
“We are closely following the Israeli administration’s attempts to dynamite the (US-Iran) deal … The current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to drown our geography in the smell of gunpowder and blood
The Turkish leader has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to undermine the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on June 17 to halt fighting and allow time for negotiations.
For its part, Pakistan has condemned Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 71,000 people have been killed in attacks since October 2023, including more than 1,000 since a supposed US-brokered ceasefire was anno
It will harness the military and financial strengths of each country, analysts say.
While Turkiye has NATO’s second-largest military, Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter, and Pakistan is the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons.
Murat Aslan, an associate professor of international politics at Hasan Kalyoncu University in Gaziantep, Turkiye, told Al Jazeera the pact can also be expected to cover “capacity building”.
“We know that Saudi Arabia is dependent on importing their defence products, weapons or equipment, especially from the United States for decades, and we know that it’s not cost-effective and they need to build their own defence sector inside Saudi Arabia,” Aslan said.
“The three of them combined now present a force that will take this region towards a different security architecture than the one in place over the last few decades, especially in the wake of the Iran war,” he said.
“Saudis must know that a paper agreement with Türkiye and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided dependence on the Americans did not bring them security,” he wrote.
“We are closely following the Israeli administration’s attempts to dynamite the (US-Iran) deal … The current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to drown our geography in the smell of gunpowder and blood again,” he said.
For its part, Pakistan has condemned Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 71,000 people have been killed in attacks since October 2023, including more than 1,000 since a supposed US-brokered ceasefire was announced last year.
US President Donald Trump has long hoped to persuade Saudi Arabia to sign the so-called Abraham Accords, normalising relations between Israel and Muslim countries.
