Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence pact in Mecca on Friday, agreeing that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack on all of them.
The agreement, called the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A joint statement did not specify what military action the countries would take if one of them was attacked.
Turkey's government said the pact does not conflict with its NATO commitments, describing it as an additional mechanism for regional security cooperation and not an alternative to NATO membership.
The agreement comes amid the fallout from the US-Iran war, which has brought strikes on Saudi territory and disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Pakistan, the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority state, has traditionally tried to avoid Middle East entanglements. The partnership combines Saudi financial power, Turkish defence technology and Pakistani military capability.
Separately, Iran said it is close to finalising a deal with Oman to co-manage the Strait of Hormuz.