Amid escalating attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen against Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have initiated discussions for a joint response under a mutual defense agreement.

According to a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement cited by Reuters on the 25th, local time, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan held a meeting within the framework of the "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement." They condemned the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca and other civilian facilities while reaffirming Saudi Arabia's right to self-defense.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is a collective defense treaty signed by the three countries on August 7.

The statement said, "The ministers also discussed preparations to hold an emergency meeting of the chiefs of staff of the three countries to discuss ways to support Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement," adding, "This agreement stipulates that an attack on any single party shall be considered an attack on all parties."

In connection with this, Anadolu Agency reported that the Turkish Ministry of Defense stated that Chief of the Turkish General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu departed for Saudi Arabia on that day to attend the "Mecca Defense Alliance Chiefs of Staff Meeting."

However, specific details regarding the meeting plan have not yet been disclosed.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have attacked the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and repeatedly launched assaults toward Saudi territory, disrupting the flow of oil in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest energy exporter.

The Houthi rebels stated on the 24th that they launched dozens of missiles and drones toward targets inside Saudi Arabia, and Saudi authorities announced that they intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Houthi combatants.

Saudi Arabia previously issued emergency alerts for several regions, including Mecca, Jeddah, and Yanbu, a major Saudi oil port along the Red Sea coast.

According to a statement released by the Saudi state news agency on the night of the 24th, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti (the highest Sunni Islamic scholar), Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan al-Fawzan, urged Saudi soldiers to be prepared to lay down their lives fighting until the Houthis are ousted from power.

Reuters explained that it is rare for the Grand Mufti, Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, to issue such a message.

Recently, Iran has shown signs of distancing itself from the rapid advance of its ally, the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Sticking in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized in an interview with U.S. Fox News broadcasted on the 24th, local time, that "the Houthis are responsible for their own actions."

Pezeshkian claimed, "They (the Houthi rebels) are resisting based on the situation they find themselves in, and they do not take orders from us."

He added, "We have contact with them, but we do not have a systematic relationship."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)