Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey call emergency military chiefs meeting
The talks under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement will review support for Riyadh after Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi targets.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agreed to convene an emergency meeting of their military chiefs under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement after Houthi attacks on the kingdom, the Saudi foreign ministry said on Friday.
The meeting will review ways to support Saudi Arabia under the pact, which states that an armed attack on one signatory is considered an attack on all. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed the arrangements with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The foreign ministers condemned the attacks on Mecca and other civilian and economic sites and recognised Saudi Arabia's right to self-defence, according to the Saudi foreign ministry. A date for the chiefs of staff meeting was not announced.
Yemen's Houthis said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets on Thursday. Saudi officials said air defences intercepted six ballistic missiles. Emergency alerts were issued for Mecca, Jeddah and Yanbu, the Red Sea oil port.
The attacks have disrupted oil shipments from the world's largest crude exporter and are part of the wider Middle East war that began in February with United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, the Saudi foreign ministry said. Tehran responded by attacking Israeli and American military interests in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to distance Iran from the Houthis in a Fox News interview on Thursday, saying the group is responsible for its own actions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately told reporters that Tehran had sent a proposal through mediators to Washington under which the Strait of Hormuz would reopen if Iranian conditions were met. They include a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, within seven days, an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports, release of frozen assets and removal of oil sanctions, he said.
Express News reported that the agreement was signed in August 2026. It was not immediately clear when the chiefs of staff would meet or what kind of military or practical assistance Pakistan and Turkey might provide. Saudi Arabia's top religious authority told soldiers to be ready to sacrifice their lives fighting the Houthis until the group is removed from power, the state news agency SPA reported.
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