Updated

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a trilateral defence pact under which, Pakistani officials said, an attack on any one of the three would be treated as an attack on all. The agreement, referred to as the Mecca Agreement, was concluded amid the wider conflict in the Middle East and heightened tensions stemming from the US-Iran war, and was publicly welcomed by President Donald Trump. Analysts have described it as a hedge by regional states seeking security guarantees outside existing bilateral arrangements with Washington. In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic aired Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the pact is open to other countries, specifically naming Egypt and saying "the doors will be open to Egypt" — comments that appeared to counter reports that Cairo had been excluded. The remarks suggest the signatories intend the arrangement to be expandable into a broader regional security bloc. Neither Egypt nor other prospective members have publicly confirmed interest in joining.