Iran Views Saudi-Pakistan-Turkiye Pact as US Decline
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- Saudi Arabia signed an expanded mutual defense pact with Pakistan and Turkiye in Mecca on Friday under which any external armed attack on one country will be considered an attack on all three.
- The pact was finalized more than five months after a US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, but the three signatories stressed it targets no specific country, particularly not Iran.
- Abbas Araghchi posted on X emphasizing that when Muslims stand together they can face challenges from "malicious outsiders," without directly naming the trilateral agreement signed hours earlier.
- A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official told ISNA that the ministry views the pact as "the beginning of the collapse of US security hegemony in West Asia and the Persian Gulf," heralding a new regional order built without extra-regional powers.
- Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins, Mehran Kamrava of Georgetown University of Qatar and Hamidreza Azizi of Clingendael Institute told Al Jazeera that Tehran does not feel immediately threatened, with Nasr calling it part of a "post-American security order" and a balance to the Abraham Accords.
- Hardline Iranian lawmakers Ebrahim Azizi and Ebrahim Rezaei publicly warned the pact could undermine Pakistan's role as mediator between Iran and the US and ultimately be directed against Tehran-backed armed forces across the region.
- Chatham House's Sanam Vakil said the pact reflects regional reactions to "US unreliability, Israeli revisionism and Iranian retaliation," while Egypt has already been floated as a possible future member.
Why it matters: Tehran's restraint signals it sees the pact more as proof of declining US regional influence than as an immediate military threat. Hardliner warnings about it targeting Iran's regional allies show internal debate, while ongoing Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia underscore the security threats the pact was built to address remain unresolved.
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