Iran: We have not received an official invitation to join the Mecca Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said on Monday that Iran has not received an official invitation to join the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, according to what was reported by the semi-official Iranian Mehr News Agency. Ismail Baghaei added in a press conference: “We did not receive an official invitation, but proposals were submitted,” according to Mehr Agency.

Earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a joint defense agreement between the three countries in the city of Mecca. According to a joint statement by the three countries, the agreement “aims to strengthen joint deterrence against any attack, and stipulates that any armed attack on any of the three countries is an attack on all.”

Baghaei stressed in his press conference that Iran “did not start the war with the United States and that it will not allow an end to the war to be imposed on it according to the terms of the aggressor party,” as he put it. Ismail Baghaei added, “Iranian officials made it clear that they would not make any concessions to the aggressors.

The Iranian President repeatedly affirmed his firm position that Iran will not surrender. Baghaei said, “There is no justification for any country to worry about us, unless it provides its bases for the aggressor to commit an aggressive act, but we will not be lenient in defending Iran’s sovereignty.”

The Iranian spokesman stressed that "Iran has the right to target the source and origin of any aggressive act against the country." Ismail Baghaei spoke about what he described as the “claim” that the Strait of Hormuz is open, and said that it represents a “psychological war.” He added that Iran will not stand “idly by” in responding to the American naval blockade, and that escalating the blockade into what the United States calls an “economic war” will inevitably lead to dire consequences, according to Mehr Agency.

The US President had previously threatened to launch the "most crushing economic operation" against Iran, in a post on social media. He also warned that countries that continue to do business with Tehran would face economic consequences. Meanwhile, Iran rejected the US President’s threat to launch an “economic landing day,” describing it as “a recipe for a terrible return to comprehensive traditional colonialism.”