Iran Sees Mecca Defense Pact as Sign of Regional Shift
The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey as a sign of a changing perception among regional states, saying they have realized that security cannot be secured by relying on foreign powers.
In comments at a weekly press conference on Monday, Esmaeil Baqaei said the trilateral agreement could be viewed as an indication of a shift in the way countries in the region perceive security.
He noted that Iran has consistently called on regional countries to cooperate and strengthen their own security without relying on foreign actors, stressing that the latest development should be taken into consideration.
Baqaei said regional countries had, particularly since the start of the genocide in Gaza and Israeli attacks three years ago, increasingly recognized the source of the greatest threat to stability and security in the region and beyond.
He pointed to the Zionist regime’s attacks on Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, as well as its threats against other countries in the region, saying such developments have strengthened the understanding that regional states can no longer rely on the US claims to provide security.
The Iranian spokesman also said the US itself has contributed to insecurity in the region, arguing that the Israeli regime could not have carried out its actions without American support.
He stressed Iran’s view that regional security is indivisible, saying that any initiative that correctly identifies the enemy and the threat could contribute to strengthening security.
Reference Link:- https://www.tasnimnews.ir/en/news/2026/08/10/3667720/iran-sees-mecca-defense-pact-as-sign-of-regional-shift
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
