Iran receives invitation to join Mecca defence agreement, says official

Iran has received an invitation to join the “Mecca Agreement” on collective defense between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, Mehdi Rahimi, head of the Iranian parliament's Khaneh Mellat news agency, said.

Speaking to Al Mayadeen television, he noted that Iranian authorities are considering the proposal.

Rahimi emphasized that efforts to establish a “security umbrella” among countries in the region represent a victory for Iran, as Tehran has long advocated such an initiative.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, also known as the Mecca Agreement, is a trilateral collective-defence pact signed in Mecca on August 7, 2026, by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Under the agreement, an armed attack on any of the three countries is to be regarded as an attack on all three.

The pact builds on the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in September 2025. It is designed to strengthen joint deterrence, defence-industrial cooperation, military interoperability and intelligence sharing. 

Turkish and Saudi officials have repeatedly stressed that the agreement is purely defensive, remains open in principle to additional members and is not directed against any particular country.

By Jeyhun Aghazada