Iran Says Mecca Defense Pact Poses No Threat

Iran is not treating the new defense arrangement linking Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan as a threat. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran saw no reason to view the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement in that way during a weekly news conference in Tehran.

Baghaei said Middle Eastern countries had concluded that they could not rely on U.S. promises to guarantee their security because Washington's main concern was protecting Israel's interests. "Islamic countries in the Middle East region have concluded that they cannot rely on the United States' promises to guarantee their security, because Washington's primary concern is protecting Israel's interests," he said, according to ANTARA.

He added that those countries needed to build trust and cooperate among themselves to ensure their security. Baghaei also said Iran had held talks with countries involved in the framework. Turkey, he noted, remains an important neighbor with which Iran has good relations and would continue to be consulted on various issues.

The agreement was signed in Mecca on Aug. 7 by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. It seeks to strengthen collective deterrence amid rising regional and global instability. The treaty states that an attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three.

Baghaei also said Israel had repeatedly threatened the agreement, both directly and indirectly, but did not describe the pact itself as a danger to Iran.

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Islamic countries in the Middle East region have concluded that they cannot rely on the United States' promises to guarantee their security, because Washington's primary concern is protecting Israel's interests.