ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan on Thursday held a meeting in New York to discuss progress in the implementation of the Mecca defense pact, and preparations for an “urgent meeting” to discuss ways to support Saudi Arabia amid continued Houthi attacks on the Kingdom.

In early August, Riyadh, Ankara, and Turkey signed a high-profile mutual defense accord termed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,  which asserts that any attack against one of the signatory states "shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

Despite the agreement, neither Turkey nor Pakistan have offered to directly participate in Saudi Arabia’s escalating conflict with Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia’s Faisal bin Farhan, Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar, and Turkey’s Hakan Fidan held a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to review “the progress made on the establishment of the Secretariat and the committees and task forces of the accord, as well as preparations for the commencement of their work,” according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The diplomacy chiefs further discussed “ongoing arrangements to hold an urgent meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the three nations to discuss ways to support the Kingdom in accordance with the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.”

Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels have intensified attacks on Saudi territory, targeting major oil, military, and residential infrastructure mainly in Jazan and Riyadh areas, while emergency alerts have also been issued in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Red Sea province of Yanbu, Jeddah, and Tabuk.

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, which has lost large swathes of Red Sea territory to the Houthi offensive, earlier in September said that Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed a “hostile drone” before it entered the airspace of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

The ministers expressed their “strongest condemnation of the heinous attacks targeting Makkah Al-Mukarramah [Mecca] and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” according to the SPA report.

They affirmed the Kingdom’s right to “take measures it deems appropriate” to defend the country’s security.

The Yemeni rebel group has denied reports of targeting the Islamic holy city, with Houthi chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accusing Riyadh of concocting “a blatant falsehood” in a bid to bolster international support for its struggling military campaign in Yemen.

In addition, the Houthis have imposed a maritime blockade on Saudi vessels transiting in the Red Sea, threatening Riyadh's oil exports that have largely been diverted to its western shores amid the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The blockade, which came after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa International Airport and of perpetuating an embargo of Houthi-controlled territory, has threatened Saudi oil exports, hampering transit along its western coast.

Similarly, the bombardment of Saudi oil infrastructure by pro-Iran Iraqi factions and the subsequent Saudi bombardment of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) sites across Iraq has led to a diplomatic firestorm in Baghdad.

“The ministers also discussed the current situation in the region, where they stressed the importance of consolidating the principles of international law, good neighborliness, mutual respect for the sovereignty of states and non-interference in their internal affairs, and ensuring the security and freedom of maritime navigation,” the SPA added.