Iran: Sunni Trio's Joint Defense Signals Shift in Perception of U.S.

▲ Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign a joint defense agreement

The Iranian Foreign Ministry evaluated the joint defense agreement recently signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan as a sign of a shifting perception of the United States among regional countries, local time on the 10th.

Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated during a press briefing regarding the joint defense treaty signed by the three Sunni Muslim nations—Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey—that "regional countries have realized that security is not a commodity that can be bought with money from a false broker (the United States)."

Spokesperson Baghaei asserted, "Regional countries are no longer in a situation where they can rely on the claims of security provided by the U.S. as they did in the past."

Mentioning religious, historical, and civilizational ties with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, he dismissed concerns that the agreement might be aimed at keeping Iran in check, stating, "There is no reason whatsoever to worry that this agreement will be hostile toward Iran."

Regarding whether Iran has any intention of participating in the agreement among the three Sunni nations, he emphasized, "Our basic policy is to encourage the strengthening of mutual trust and cooperation so that regional countries can achieve security self-reliance without depending on external forces. In this context, this matter is certainly worthy of attention."

He added, "Iran has consistently led and emphasized the establishment of a security system based on cooperation among regional countries," and "Iran hopes to communicate closely with neighboring and regional countries so that all nations can learn lessons from the series of events over the past two to three years and choose the best path to strengthen regional collective security."

Earlier on the 7th, Saudi Arabia—the leader of Sunni Islam and the world's largest oil exporter—Turkey, which holds the second-largest military power within NATO, and Pakistan, the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed state, signed a joint defense agreement (known as the Mecca Joint Defense Treaty) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest site in Islam.

The three countries specified in a joint statement, "We signed the treaty to strengthen collective deterrence against all acts of aggression," and "An armed attack on any of the three signatory nations will be considered an attack on all of them."

Experts analyzed that the Mecca Agreement is an attempt to curb the growing influence of a emboldened Iran, the so-called "Axis of Resistance" supported by Iran, and Israel, while offsetting the diminished reliability of the U.S. presence.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

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