Iran on Monday called on regional countries to strengthen security cooperation among themselves rather than rely on the United States or other external powers for protection, following the signing of a trilateral defense pact between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The Mecca Agreement, a trilateral defensive pact between Riyadh, Ankara, and Islamabad, asserts that any attack against one of the signatory states "shall be regarded as an attack against them all," The New Region reported.

Reacting to the defense agreement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a press conference that Tehran’s “fundamental policy” is “to encourage the region's countries toward cooperation and strengthening mutual trust for endogenous security, without relying on extra-regional actors.”

The Iranian diplomat argued that regional countries “can no longer rely, as in the past, on the claims of security provision by the United States.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met in Jeddah on Friday to sign the pact, amid a period of escalating regional conflict that has increasingly affected Saudi Arabia, including attacks against the kingdom during the US-Iran war.

Similarly, the bombardment of Saudi oil infrastructure by pro-Iran Iraqi factions and subsequent Saudi strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) sites across Iraq have triggered a diplomatic firestorm in Baghdad, with authorities scrambling to rein in attacks by non-state actors.

Baghaei said that “the greatest threat to stability, security, and cooperation among countries in the region is the Zionist regime [Israel], not only for our region, but for the entire global community.”

He added that “any plan that is based on reality and correctly identifies the enemy and threats will contribute to the security of the region and prevent instability caused by the Zionist enemy.”

He said Israel “officially targets the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of a significant number of regional countries” and referenced attacks on Syrian territory and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Riyadh and Islamabad previously signed a bilateral defense agreement in September, strengthening a decades-old partnership that currently sees over 8,000 Pakistani troops, as well as fighter jets and air defense systems, deployed in the Kingdom.

The inclusion of Türkiye marks a bolstering of the alliance, coming as Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels and pro-Iran Iraqi militias in recent months.

Pakistan has also played a key role in mediating US-Iran negotiations in recent months, as Türkiye has increasingly become a powerful regional actor with a significant deterrent capability through its large, NATO-embedded military and advanced drone technology.