Iran fires back at Turkey-Saudi-Pakistan defense pact
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement," under which an armed attack on any one of the three states will be treated as an attack on all three. Iran issued the first sharp reaction.
RastinewsIran has issued its first reaction to the "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement" signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, under which an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all three. Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei addressed Riyadh directly, saying: "A paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring you security."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the trilateral joint defense agreement in Mecca on August 7.
The most notable clause of the agreement, known as the "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement," states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be considered an attack on the other two as well.
The agreement also calls for deeper defense cooperation between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and for strengthening their joint deterrence capacity.
International media have described the pact as a step that could reshape the security architecture of the Middle East. The first strong reaction came from Iran.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, targeted Saudi Arabia directly in a statement posted on social media.
Rezaei said:
"The Saudis must understand that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as decades of one-sided dependence on the Americans failed to do so. Change your policies so you don't have to keep begging others for security."
The statement, widely covered in Iranian media, marked one of Tehran's first notable political reactions to the trilateral defense mechanism.
An attack on one counted as an attack on all three
According to details released about the agreement, an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as a whole.
The move brings the existing military and defense cooperation between the three countries under a new framework that includes a mutual defense commitment.
Turkish officials say the agreement does not target any particular country. They describe it as a defense-oriented cooperation built on burden-sharing, collective security and deterrence, aimed at preserving regional and global peace, stability and prosperity.
Pakistani officials have likewise stated that the agreement's core principle is that an attack on one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all of them.
The agreement is being closely watched in the international press amid ongoing security tensions in the region, particularly involving Iran.