Iran weighs invitation to join Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan defense pact

Neither the Iranian Foreign Ministry nor any of the three countries that established the alliance has officially confirmed the invitation.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran is considering an invitation to join a mutual defense alliance established this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, an Iranian parliamentary news agency official said, potentially expanding the three-country security framework to include Tehran.

Mehdi Rahimi, head of the Iranian parliament’s Khana Melat news agency, told Al Mayadeen that Tehran had been asked to join the Mecca Agreement for Mutual Defense.

“Iran has received an invitation to join the Mecca agreement and the issue is under consideration,” Rahimi said.

Neither the Iranian Foreign Ministry nor any of the three countries that established the alliance has officially confirmed the invitation.

Rahimi said countries across the region are “moving towards searching for a regional security umbrella,” describing the development as a “victory for Iran, because it has been calling for this for a long time.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Agreement on August 7.

Under its mutual defense provision, an attack against any one of the three countries is considered an attack against all of them.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has compared the provision to Article 5 of the NATO Charter while saying the alliance is not aimed at Iran or any other specific country.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have begun developing mechanisms for political and military coordination under the pact.

Those efforts include meetings involving foreign and defense ministers and military commanders, as well as plans for joint exercises and cooperation between their defense industries.

Turkey has said membership could eventually be opened to additional countries, with Egypt publicly identified as a possible candidate.

Iran had previously offered a cautiously positive response to the alliance.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaie said on August 10 that Tehran “has no reason to worry” about its creation.

Baqaie said the agreement reflected growing recognition among countries in the region of the need to establish regional security mechanisms.

Iranian membership, if the invitation is confirmed and Tehran accepts it, would expand an alliance formed by three countries that maintain close security ties with the West into a broader regional security framework.