Attack on Saudi Tanker Sidr Puts Untested Mecca Pact to Its First Major Test

Two Very Large Crude Carriers loaded with Saudi crude — the Saudi-flagged Sidr and the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity — are struck by unknown projectiles late on Aug 31 in the Strait of Hormuz near Khasab, Oman, according to shipping-intelligence firms Marisks and Kpler. Saudi Arabia says two Filipino sailors were killed aboard the Sidr and condemns the targeting, calling for an end to the escalation and respect for maritime and energy-supply security; Iran has not responded to the Saudi allegation. The strike is the first attack on a Saudi-flagged asset since the Aug 7 Mecca pact signing and the Aug 31 Istanbul committee meeting — a scenario Responsible Statecraft analyst Mohammed Nail Abdulqader had flagged weeks earlier as the pact's likely first real test, since the treaty text "does not specify the military obligations that would follow, whether assistance would be automatic, or what form of response the other signatories would be expected to provide." As of Sept 2, neither Pakistan nor Turkey has issued a statement invoking the mutual-defense clause or offering a joint response.