Turkish FM says newly-signed trilateral defense deal not aimed at Iran

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that the newly signed Makkah Joint Defense Agreement does not target Iran, clarifying that the deal is defensive in nature and aimed at protecting signatories from external "attacks."

In an interview with Türkiye's Anadolu Agency, Fidan said "there is no common threat that we have put in writing," adding that the deal does not target any country that does not attack its signatories.

"Iran is not in the crosshairs of this agreement," he said.

A day after Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed the trilateral defense agreement, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, warned that any "miscalculation" against Iran would be met with a response.

Fidan noted that preparations for the deal had been underway for nearly two years and eight months, involving signatories and other regional countries.

Several countries have shown interest in joining the deal, voicing confidence that Egypt, said Fidan, which he called a "natural partner," will "be among us in the next stage."

He said the deal is "technically similar to NATO's Article 5 on collective defense, allowing members to benefit from each other's protective support."

A country under attack will need to make a request for assistance and determine the type of support needed, ranging from intelligence and logistics to ammunition or military units, depending on the scale of the threat, he said.

The alliance will have a political and military committee comprising foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of general staff, with a secretariat in Saudi Arabia overseeing implementation, he said.

The deal, signed on Friday by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Makkah, stipulates that any armed attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against them all.

The timing of the signing has been widely seen as inseparable from the heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

(With input from Xinhua)