Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey Sign Mecca Joint Defence Agreement

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, a trilateral mutual-defense pact declaring that an armed attack against any one of the three states 'shall be regarded as an attack against them all.' The pact builds on the bilateral Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement of September 2025, adding NATO member Turkey's military capabilities to Pakistan's nuclear deterrent and Saudi financial resources. Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan called it 'an embodiment of the shared political will of the three countries' meant to 'unify efforts to confront the challenges and threats' facing the region. Officials described the framework as defensive and open to other regional states, signed against the backdrop of the ongoing Iran war and renewed Saudi-Houthi fighting in Yemen.