Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey are expected to sign on Friday a joint defense cooperation agreement amid the Middle East’s turmoil triggered by the war in Iran, Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the plans.
On Friday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Jeddah for an official visit, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the commitments of each of the three countries will be in the joint agreement. The three mostly Sunni Muslim powers have been concerned over the turmoil in the Middle East due to the U.S.-Israel war with predominantly Shiite Muslim Iran.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil exporter, Turkey has the biggest NATO army behind the U.S., while Pakistan is a nuclear-armed nation, the only Muslim country to have nuclear weapons.
The war in the Middle East is creating alliances in the region as countries look to protect themselves from attacks and enlist powerful allies to counter threats.
Pakistan has tried to mediate in the U.S.-Iran talks while negotiating with Iran passage of energy commodity cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains mostly closed with traffic subdued more than five months after the war began on February 28.
Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has declined this week from the prior week amid uncertainty about the U.S.-Iran talks and the potential reopening of the Middle East’s key oil and LNG chokepoint.
Only six crude oil tankers have managed to clear the Strait of Hormuz outbound so far this week, according to Kpler’s ship-tracking data cited by Reuters.
Vessel traffic at the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait crumbled earlier this week amid a Houthi claim they had hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea and hopes that Oman and Iran could reach a deal on jointly managing Hormuz.
Iran on Thursday signaled a much more restrictive regime for vessel traffic than thought, with proposals under review at its parliament to ban U.S. and Israeli ships from transiting the Strait, while other nations that Tehran deems have harmed it would pay compensation for moving through Hormuz.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Lower Oil Prices Lend Support For The Gold Rally
- India’s Crude Oil Output Falls for Third Straight Year
- India Remains Dependent on Imports for 90% of Oil Demand
