Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye seal a mutual defense agreement in Jeddah

Meeting in Jeddah on Friday at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Turkish and Pakistani leaders signed a collective defense pact with Saudi Arabia, dubbed the "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement", against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Jeddah for this trilateral summit between three Sunni Muslim countries. The agreement, announced by the Saudi channel al-Arabiya and confirmed by Islamabad, establishes an explicit principle of military solidarity: "Any armed attack against one of the three states will be considered an attack against all of them," Pakistan declared.

The rapprochement between Riyadh, Ankara, and Islamabad has accelerated in a particularly tense regional context. A source close to the Saudi military, speaking on condition of anonymity, confided that "the issue had been under discussion for a long time, but recent developments in the region have accelerated the pace." The summit is taking place more than five months after the start of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran.

The meeting comes amid conflicting signals regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, in collaboration with Oman, has proposed banning access to the strait for ships deemed hostile and imposing heavy fines on violators. This prospect weighed on oil markets: Brent crude rose 1,2% to $83,48 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained $0,85 to $78,84. No diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington is in sight.

Neighboring Yemen is simultaneously descending into a new spiral of violence. Attacks claimed by Houthi rebels struck a military camp in Marib province and several sites in Hadramout province, near the Saudi border. A military official reported 58 deaths and dozens of wounded, describing the strikes as "the deadliest since the 2022 ceasefire." Two more civilians were killed in a separate Houthi attack later in the day.