(NewsNation) — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim U.S. allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has brought Iranian missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.

Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the U.S. and Israel attacked it on February 28 in a major escalation after years of regional tumult.

The "Mecca Joint Defense Agreement" is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all, they said in a joint statement.

However, the statement did not give specifics on the commitments each had accepted and it was not clear how far their agreement would bind them to any particular military action in each other's defense.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the agreement was not aimed at any specific country. A Turkish official added that it was purely defensive and did not abrogate any existing agreements the countries had with other states.

The three nations share concerns about the increasingly aggressive military stances of both Israel and revolutionary Shi'ite Iran, as their longtime U.S. ally struggles to contain regional upheaval that has caused a global energy crisis.

An attack blamed on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis wounded 11 civilians in southern Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom warned coordinated attacks involving Houthi fighters and Iran-backed militias in Iraq could be imminent.

Saudi officials said intelligence shared with the United States and regional partners pointed to possible attacks targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, ports and airports, raising fears the conflict could spread further across the Middle East.

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The warning comes as diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions continue.

Saudi coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the attack in Najran Province wounded 11 civilians, including a 4-year-old child. The victims included Saudi, Yemeni, Egyptian and Pakistani nationals.

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A senior Saudi official told Reuters the kingdom, the United States and regional allies believe the Houthis and Iran-backed Iraqi militias could launch coordinated strikes against Saudi civilian infrastructure in the coming days.

Saudi Arabia said it remains committed to diplomacy but is prepared to respond to any new attacks.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rejected recent U.S. calls for negotiations, accusing Washington of using "theater diplomacy" after shifting from military threats to renewed talk of diplomacy.

In a post on X, Ghalibaf said U.S. pressure tactics, broken promises and "fake news" had failed, adding Iran would not engage in what he described as political theatrics.

Reuters contributed to this story.

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