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Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan Sign Joint Defense Pact in Mecca

evening · · thread: US and Iran Pause Military Strikes Amid Continued Drone Attacks on Saudi Oil Sites

6 sources across 6 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • Haaretz Israel · Left · Schocken family and M. DuMont Schauberg
  • Asahi Shimbun Japan · Centre-left · Asahi Shimbun Company (family and employee held)
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a joint defense agreement on Friday during a trilateral summit in Mecca. The pact, known as the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, stipulates that any armed attack against one of the three member states shall be regarded as an attack against all of them. The agreement was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The pact aims to strengthen collective deterrence and deepen defense cooperation among the three nations. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Bahrain have welcomed the agreement as a strategic step for regional stability. Turkish President Erdogan stated that the pact targets no specific country and remains open to other friendly nations. While Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had previously signed a bilateral strategic mutual defense agreement in September 2025, this new tripartite accord adds Turkey, a NATO member, to the alliance. Analysts suggest the pact reflects a shift in regional security dynamics as some nations perceive the United States as an increasingly unreliable security partner. Israel has not yet officially responded to the pact, though some sources in Jerusalem view the development as negative due to souring relations with Ankara.

How each side framed it

Left
This outlet framed the agreement as a sign of declining U.S. influence and a negative development for Israel.
Centre-left
These outlets framed the pact as a strategic shift toward a new regional security architecture and a response to waning U.S. influence.
Centre
These outlets presented the pact as a message to both Iran and the United States regarding regional reliability.

Sources

93% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.