Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a defence pact; Iran read it as warning

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement brings Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey into a NATO-style security partnership. Explore its military commitments, strategic interests, Iran's response and the challenges of turning the agreement into a functioning regional defence alliance.

New Delhi: The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement borrows its architecture from NATO. Signed on 7 August, its central clause treats an armed attack on any one of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey as an attack on all three. A week later, Turkey’s defence ministry set out the working parts. Senior ministers would meet as a group. The three armies, navies and air forces would hold joint exercises, including air defence and unmanned systems. Their defence industries would cooperate on joint development and production, with unmanned and autonomous systems, electronic warfare and artificial intelligence as priorities. The pact was open to expansion, with Egypt named as a candidate, and was not........

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