Iran says it has received no invitation from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye to join security agreement

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference on August 24 that Iran had not received a formal invitation to join an agreement on regional security involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.

“We have not received a formal invitation, but these countries have raised the issue related to the broader question of regional security,” Baghaei said.

The spokesman said Tehran saw no reason to believe that the arrangement involving the three countries was directed against Iran.

According to Baghaei, the discussions reflect growing concern among regional states over US policy and their assessment that Washington’s main concern in the region is protecting Israel’s illegitimate interests.

Therefore, according to the spokesman, countries in the region have recognised the need to develop local mechanisms to protect the region from Israeli expansionism.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed between Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad on August 7, provides for deeper military cooperation and also includes, following the NATO model, the principle of collective defence, under which an attack on one of the countries is considered an attack on all.

Addressing Washington’s threats to impose economic and trade sanctions on Iran, Baghaei said the various forms of US pressure over the past five decades had pursued the same objective.

“From crippling sanctions to maximum pressure and economic warfare, they all pursue one objective, which is to force into submission a nation that has decided to stand on its own feet, a nation that has decided not to relinquish its rights and knows that these waves, whether in the form of war, terrorism or economic sanctions, all pursue one objective,” he said.

Baghaei stressed that Iran had resisted these measures and would continue to defend its rights.

He also rejected US claims that Iran was an unreliable negotiating partner.