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An Iranian lawmaker said Friday that Saudi Arabia's newly signed defense pact with Türkiye and Pakistan will not guarantee the kingdom's security, in the first reaction from Tehran to the agreement.
"The Saudis should understand that a paper agreement with Türkiye and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as decades of one-sided dependence on the Americans failed to do so," Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, wrote on X.
"Change your policies so you don't have to beg others for security," he added. Rezaei's post, written in Persian, also used the hashtag "#security_begging" alongside his remarks.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye signed a mutual defense pact earlier Friday, with the three countries committing to defend one another if any one of them is attacked.
A Turkish official described the pact as "purely defensive" and said it was not directed against any specific actor.
The agreement comes as Saudi Arabia faces threats on multiple fronts.
A Saudi official who spoke to Reuters said Thursday that the kingdom was bracing for a major, coordinated assault by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Yemen, supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The pact could serve as a signal to Tehran about the consequences of a major attack on Saudi Arabia, which would now draw in Pakistan and Türkiye, potentially widening the conflict.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud said that the trilateral defense pact Riyadh signed with Türkiye and Pakistan reflects the depth of their strategic relations.
"The signing of the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement by the Saudi crown prince, the president of the Republic of Türkiye, and the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan confirms the depth of the brotherly and strategic relations among the three countries," he said on X.
He called the agreement an "important milestone in the path of defense cooperation."
It also represents "a culmination of the shared desire to unify efforts to confront challenges and threats affecting the security and stability of the region," he further said.
"The pact would serve our countries and peoples, reflect positively on the entire region, and pave the way for a secure future in which opportunities for development and prosperity are strengthened," he said.
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