Makkah Defence Alliance could expand to Iran, other Muslim nations: Turkish speaker

The signatories have been meeting to lay out the parameters of the accord and assess Riyadh's needs. "For international agreements to come into effect, parliamentary approval is needed. The meetings held as part of the agreement at the moment are preparatory meetings," Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus.

"I expect this issue to come on the parliament's agenda in the coming period," he added, referring to parliament's return from recess in October.

Asked whether the pact was against Iran, Kurtulmus repeated Turkiye's position that the agreement did not target any specific country but was primarily aimed at ensuring the security of states in the region amid conflicts and Israel's "hostile policies", adding that Tehran could potentially join the pact too.

"We never see the Makkah Agreement as a pact against Iran; it must not be that way. In fact, we hope the Makkah Agreement can turn into a broader agreement for the Muslim world. Iran can join this agreement too; we hope it will become much stronger with the participation of other regional countries," he said.

Ankara has previously said it could help meet Riyadh's military needs, especially on technical issues, but officials have said any support at this stage would be largely bilateral and in the spirit of their alliance, since the joint agreement has yet to be ratified.

The military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan are set to meet to discuss ways of supporting Riyadh.