The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, signed on August 7, 2026. It stipulates that an attack on any member state is treated as an attack on all, reflecting the principle of collective defence.

The pact was formed in August amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Its activation had been delayed as Turkiye and Pakistan tried to maintain their roles as diplomatic mediators in the broader regional war, TBS News reported.

It was invoked for the first time on October 5, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed missile and drone strikes on Saudi targets including Riyadh airport and an Aramco refinery. At an emergency meeting in Riyadh, the three countries agreed to rapidly deploy agreed military forces and capabilities to Saudi Arabia.

Retired Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood of Pakistan became the alliance’s first secretary-general. Analysts say Pakistan’s involvement is particularly significant, and Iran is unlikely to risk direct war with the three given their combined military, political and economic weight.