Mecca Joint Defense Agreement

"The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is not directed against a specific country," Fidan said, adding that the member states are considering establishing a mechanism to add new members.

The two events happening on the same day are a coincidence, because both have been in the works for some time. However, it is symbolic of how the Middle East is being reshaped.

Senior officials from the three countries will discuss joint military cooperation, defense production, and coordination mechanisms in the first talks since the Mecca Agreement was signed.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan’s new defense pact is already attracting interest from Bangladesh, Egypt, and Iran. But expansion could reshape regional security, alliances, and power balances.

Among other things, the Mecca Agreement includes a clause stipulating that any aggression against one member of the alliance will be considered aggression against all three.

The invitation has not yet been officially confirmed by Iran's Foreign Ministry or by any of the three countries that are parties to the agreement.

"In the past month or two, we sold seventy million barrels of oil," he said. "Now every day we sell oil to American ships on that side, as much as we produce."

The Saudi-Pakistani-Turkish alignment could keep the region “in the ideological framework of political Islam” and block commercial prosperity, Bijan warns

Israel and India's strongest response to a new security bloc may not be another bloc. It is the ability to stand independently and to have capable partners standing with you.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani visited Islamabad for the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.