The Mecca defence agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan caused ripples both in West Asia and the wider strategic discourse. While many perhaps erroneously believed that this agreement had Iran in its crosshairs, it may, in fact, align with the security vision Tehran is pushing via its ongoing chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.

For some time now, Iran has been pushing for a region-led and region-owned security architecture that displaces the US military presence in the region, off-loads American military bases, and vests the onus of regional security in the Islamic countries. The abrupt exit of the US aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, after a record seven-month long deployment to support US war effort against Iran — following reports of poor living conditions on-board the massive vessel due to the lack of access to the US Navy’s bases in the Gulf — highlights the challenges the US faces in maintaining its military presence in the region. Prior to the war against Iran, Gulf States had disallowed the US from launching strikes using their territories, and Al Udeid, America’s largest military facility in the region, housed by Qatar, was emptied out. Other bases and assets, including those in Jordan and Bahrain, suffered significant damage from Iranian fire. “Are America’s vast Gulf bases worth rebuilding?”, read a recent headline in The Financial Times. The conversation on........

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