ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump on Monday congratulated the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on signing the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, saying the pact shows the Middle East is “coming together.”

“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Mecca Agreement, a trilateral defensive pact between Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad, stipulates that any attack against one of the signatory states “shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

“It shows how the Middle East is coming together, and how Countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way,” Trump said, congratulating “the Great Leadership of the three Nations mentioned.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met in Jeddah on August 7 to sign the pact, amid escalating regional conflict that has increasingly affected Saudi Arabia, including attacks against the kingdom during the US-Iran war.

Reacting to the defense agreement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said during a press conference last week that regional countries should strengthen security cooperation among themselves rather than rely on the US or other outside powers for protection.

Baghaei pointed to Israel as “the greatest threat to stability, security, and cooperation among countries in the region… not only for our region, but for the entire global community.”

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

The inclusion of Turkey marks a further strengthening 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, while Turkey has increasingly emerged as a powerful regional actor with significant deterrent capabilities through its large, NATO-embedded military and advanced drone technology.