Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan Sign Defense Alliance
Agreement in Jeddah formalizes strategic partnership among three Sunni powers amid US-Iran war destabilizing the region.
Agreement in Jeddah formalizes strategic partnership among three Sunni powers amid US-Iran war destabilizing the region.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are set to sign a joint defense agreement in Jeddah today, August 7, 2026. The document will be formalized by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, sources close to the Saudi military and government confirmed to AFP.
The move is a response to the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, which has already engulfed Gulf states and severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. "The agreement has been discussed for a long time, but recent events in the region accelerated the entire process," an anonymous source close to the Saudi military told AFP.
Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif and Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday, August 6, and their visit lasts until tomorrow, August 8. Turkish President Erdogan is expected later today, according to information from the Turkish presidency's office.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said yesterday that the visit has significance beyond the current crisis. "While it takes place amid heightened tensions in the Gulf, this visit holds importance that transcends the immediate crisis and short-term considerations," Andrabi said.
Speculation about a potential strategic alliance among the three Muslim nations has been rife for months. Pakistan has been trying to mediate efforts to end the war between the US and Iran, while Turkey has taken on a diplomatic role in negotiations to resolve the war in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had already announced a joint defense pact in 2025, which drew attention given that Pakistan is the only nuclear power in the Muslim world. Today's agreement further expands that cooperation by including Turkey, a NATO member with the second-largest military in the alliance.
The signing comes at a time of marked instability in the Middle East. Yesterday, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government soldiers in missile and drone attacks in Yemen, marking one of the deadliest days in the country's civil war in the past four years.
US President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that he believes the war with Iran will soon be over. Meanwhile, Israel has refused in negotiations to withdraw from additional areas in southern Lebanon unless the Lebanese army takes full control of two initial "pilot zones."
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan had already met on June 21, 2026, in Cairo, signaling intensified diplomatic activity among key regional players. Today's defense agreement represents the concretization of that cooperation on the military front.
