Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan sign pact excluding Iran

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday that a new security pact between Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad is not aimed at Iran, pushing back against speculation that the deal was a response to regional tensions after Tehran’s proxies escalated attacks across the Middle East.

Hakan Fidan told Anadolu Agency the trilateral memorandum—reported last week after talks in Islamabad—was designed to strengthen counter-terrorism, trade and infrastructure cooperation rather than to confront any single country. The timing comes as Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have widened strikes against Israel and U.S. forces, raising fears of a broader regional spillover. Fidan said the three nations wanted to create a “stability platform,” not a military bloc like NATO, and that the pact would focus on joint military exercises and intelligence sharing to fight extremist groups.

Pakistan’s foreign minister had described the deal as an “important milestone” during his visit to Ankara and Islamabad, while Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister hailed it as a step toward “collective security.” No details on specific defense commitments have been released, but analysts note the three already cooperate in the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, a Saudi-led bloc that excludes Iran. Iran’s foreign ministry has not commented, but its allies in Baghdad and Beirut have questioned whether the pact could deepen divisions in the Muslim world.

The next step is expected to be a meeting of senior defense officials in Riyadh within weeks to draft implementation plans. If successful, the framework could expand to include other Sunni-majority states, further isolating Tehran diplomatically. But the risk remains that Iran interprets the pact as encirclement, potentially triggering more asymmetric attacks through its regional network. Either way, the pact signals a deeper alignment among three pivotal powers—Turkey’s military reach, Saudi Arabia’s financial muscle and Pakistan’s nuclear-capable army—reshaping the balance in a region where Iran has long set the agenda.