‘Big, bold, important first step’: Trump welcomes defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan
US President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed the trilateral defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan and said the agreement highlights how countries are finally progressing to ‘defend themselves’ in a ‘meaningful way’.
Congratulating the three countries on signing the ‘Mecca Joint Defence Agreement‘, the 80-year-old Republican leader called the pact a “big, bold and important” first step.
“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “It shows how the Middle East is coming together, and how Countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way. Congratulations to the Great Leadership of the three Nations mentioned.”
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement
The trilateral pact was signed on August 7, which is similar to the one by US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under which an attack on one member would be considered as an attack on all three. Though they have stated that the pact is not against any particular nation, it aims to “strengthen collective deterrence” of all three countries.
The agreement declared a “shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.”
An agreement against Iran?
Observers and analysts have claimed that the pact is eyed at Iran that is eyeing to emerge as regional hegemon in the Middle East. Iran, which has been engaged in a conflict with the United States since February 28, has also criticised the pact and said it would not assure safety to Saudi Arabia, describing it a ‘paper agreement’.
“The Saudis should know that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan does not bring them security, just as years of unilateral milking of the Americans did not bring them security,” Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Parliament and National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said on X (previously Twitter) earlier.
However, the three nations have said the agreement is not against any particular nation. They have also said that they will share a commitment to participating in efforts to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United States.
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