ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Turkey is set to host the first meeting of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement in Istanbul on Monday, weeks after the trilateral agreement was signed between Ankara, Riyadh, and Islamabad.

The meeting is set to bring together foreign and defense ministers as well as the military chiefs of the three signatory states, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inked the agreement on August 7 in Jeddah, amid escalating regional tensions that have increasingly affected Saudi Arabia, including attacks against the kingdom during the US-Iran war.

Under the Mecca defense pact, an attack on one of the signatory countries “shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

The three countries’ representatives are set to discuss international security, defense capabilities, military interoperability, and closer defense industry cooperation, including research and development and joint production, according to Turkish state media. It is also set to establish a roadmap for future cooperation.

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

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.