Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed

On 7 August 2026, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The pact stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three states is regarded as an attack on all three, mirroring NATO's Article 5. Signatories were Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The agreement establishes regular committee meetings of foreign and defence ministers and military chiefs, and a secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. It builds on a Saudi-Pakistani bilateral defence pact from September 2025. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated the pact is not aimed at Iran or any other country, and that Egypt is a 'natural partner' expected to join later. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called the agreement 'purely defensive'. The pact is widely seen as a response to regional instability, including Iranian missile fire and Houthi attacks, and to doubts about US security guarantees. Analysts at the Atlantic Council and Chatham House view it as a hedging strategy and a potential foundation for a broader regional security architecture. The full text remains unpublished, and operational mechanisms are not fully detailed.