A new military cooperation agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was signed in Jeddah. The signatories were Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
According to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, the agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence against any form of aggression and establishes that an armed attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all of them. The principle closely echoes Article 5 of NATO’s charter, which is based on collective defense.
The agreement was also announced by Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT and represents a significant step in strategic cooperation between Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad at a time of deep instability in the Middle East.
Iran’s reaction was not long in coming. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, openly criticized the pact, arguing that “a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not guarantee” Saudi Arabia’s security. Rezaei also urged Riyadh to reconsider its foreign policy, stating that the Kingdom should not “beg for security from others” — a remark also aimed at Saudi Arabia’s relations with the United States.
