Saudi-Türkiye-Pakistan defence pact emerges at time as regional rivalries intensify

Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan have signed a new mutual defence agreement that could reshape security dynamics in the Middle East and beyond as the conflict involving Iran continues to fuel regional instability.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7 after months of negotiations, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three signatories will be treated as an attack against all three, creating a NATO-style collective defence framework. 

Although the agreement does not publicly specify the precise military obligations of each country, analysts widely view the alliance as deepening security cooperation among three influential powers at a time of mounting regional tensions, as noted in an article by Newsweek.

The defence agreement with is aimed at strengthening regional security and preventing further escalation rather than targeting Iran or any other country, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz underscored.

Even so, the pact effectively raises the stakes for any future attack on Saudi Arabia, which has increasingly found itself exposed to the expanding fallout from the wider conflict. Iranian missile and drone attacks, along with strikes from Tehran-aligned groups in Yemen and Iraq, have threatened Saudi territory, shipping routes and energy infrastructure, prompting Riyadh to seek stronger security partnerships with regional powers.

The kingdom has already been moving closer to both Türkiye and Pakistan. Together with Egypt, the countries have emerged as a loose grouping seeking to expand security cooperation amid growing competition with Iran and other regional powers.

While concerns over Iran’s growing pressure on Gulf states are a major factor, analysts speaking to Newsweek have also pointed to the emergence of a separate alignment involving Israel, the United Arab Emirates and India. This suggests that the new defence agreement may also be viewed within the broader competition for influence across the Middle East.

As analyst Marc Saxer recently told Newsweek, “Israel and Iran are competing for regional hegemony, while a coalition of middle powers centered on Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Egypt is seeking to balance against both.”

Israel and the UAE have deepened their cooperation since the signing of the Abraham Accords, while relations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also strengthened through defence cooperation and multilateral initiatives involving the UAE and the United States.

The timing of the new defence agreement is particularly notable as Netanyahu and Modi recently held talks that regional observers viewed as further evidence of growing coordination between Israel and India.

Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have also moved closer in recent years despite their history of rivalry, while Pakistan remains one of Saudi Arabia’s most important security partners and the Muslim world’s only nuclear-armed state.

Analysts argue that the ongoing conflict has also accelerated a trend that was already emerging across the region: regional powers are increasingly pursuing independent security arrangements rather than relying exclusively on the United States for protection.

Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, told Reuters that the agreement reflects a growing willingness among regional and middle powers to coordinate more closely on security issues. He said the framework could contribute to the emergence of a more regionally driven security architecture.

By Nazrin Sadigova