Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to sign a joint defence pact in Mecca on Friday, according to sources familiar with the development, as regional tensions rise and Gulf nations face criticism from Iran following attacks carried out by the U.S. and Israel.
Although the agreement further solidifies an emerging coalition of leading Sunni Muslim powers aligned with the United States, there was no immediate clarity regarding the specific commitments of each country or how it might influence the broader Middle East crisis.
Regional sources with direct knowledge of the situation reported in media that the deal was expected to be signed on Friday, a timeline later confirmed by a Turkish official.
A separate regional source noted that it remained uncertain whether the agreement would also be publicly announced on Friday.
The three nations share growing concerns over Middle East chaos and the role of revolutionary Shi'ite Iran and an increasingly assertive Israel, as the United States struggles to contain regional threats.
Turkey has NATO's second-largest armed forces. Saudi Arabia, the most powerful state in the Gulf, hosts Islam's most sacred sites and ranks among the world's leading oil exporters, while Pakistan remains the only Muslim-majority nation with nuclear weapons.
The conflict has revealed security vulnerabilities of Gulf states and disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage that previously carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
According to Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) signed in 2025 between Saudi Arabia and Pakistani treats an attack on either as an attack on both and encompasses "all military means."
In reality, Pakistan has aimed to steer clear of direct military involvement in the conflict with Iran, choosing instead to pursue a mediating role with Tehran.
Although Turkey and Pakistan, situated along the fringes of the Middle East, have so far been spared major direct assaults, both are eager to ease regional tensions that endanger their national security and economic stability.
Finalizing Friday's agreement in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, will lend symbolic weight to a deal that expands on the long-established military cooperation among the three nations.