Arabic version: إيران تقيّم ميثاق الدفاع السعودي-الباكستاني-التركي

According to Al Jazeera, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye have expanded their mutual defence pact, declaring that an external armed attack on one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all. The agreement was signed in Mecca on Friday and does not name a specific threat.

The three countries have said the pact is not directed against any state, particularly Iran, and does not replace their existing agreements. In Tehran, officials have largely highlighted regional and Muslim cooperation, while viewing the arrangement in the context of a declining direct United States role in the region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that Muslims standing together could confront challenges from “malicious outsiders”, without directly naming the agreement. Hossein Noushabadi, a Foreign Ministry official, described the pact as the start of the collapse of US security hegemony in West Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Some analysts said Iran does not currently see the pact as an immediate threat. Political scientist Vali Nasr called it part of a post-American security order, while Georgetown University of Qatar professor Mehran Kamrava said it currently has more symbolic than substantive significance.

Other Iranian voices have raised concerns that the arrangement could eventually be aimed at Tehran-backed armed groups or increase pressure on Iran in Yemen, Iraq and economic relations through Turkiye and Pakistan. Analysts said Tehran is likely to seek to preserve separate ties with all three states and avoid allowing the pact to become an explicitly anti-Iranian coalition.