Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a trilateral defence agreement under which an attack on any of one of the three countries would be treated as an attack on all. The agreement was announced following talks in the Saudi city of Mecca between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The pact comes months after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, triggering retalitatory strikes by Tehran and its allies on targets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. While Turkey and Pakistan, on the borders of the Middle East, have avoided significant direct attacks, both are anxious to calm conflicts that threaten their own security and economic health. For Saudi Arabia, the consequences of three years of Middle East conflicts have been more severe - imperilling its oil exports and ambitious development plans and drawing big questions over the reliability of its longstanding US security umbrella.