Tehran Dismisses Mecca Defense Pact as Ineffective Paper Agreement

Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Parliament and National Security Commission, took to social media to label the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement a mere "paper agreement." He argued that the alliance would offer Riyadh no more protection than its historical reliance on the United States. Rezaei suggested that Saudi Arabia should reform its regional policies rather than seeking external security guarantees, which he characterized as "begging" for stability.

The pact, signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, mandates that an armed attack against one signatory will be treated as an assault on all three. This collective deterrence strategy aims to fortify the nations against regional aggression, which has intensified as the ongoing conflict involving Iran disrupts shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. For Saudi Arabia, the deal represents a shift toward diversifying defense partnerships after suffering repeated drone and missile strikes on its oil facilities by regional actors.