A reported drone attack on an electricity facility in Medina has raised a question far larger than the latest confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis.

The Saudi-led coalition says the strike damaged a transformer at a distribution station supplying the Prophet’s Mosque. The Houthis deny responsibility. Whatever the final attribution, the incident exposes a problem the Middle East’s emerging defense arrangements can no longer avoid.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye made an unusually sweeping promise to one another when they signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on August 7: an armed attack on one would be treated as an attack on all three. The agreement seeks to strengthen collective deterrence by confronting potential adversaries with the combined power of three of the Muslim world’s most consequential states.

Less than two months later, that promise is facing its first serious test. Houthi missiles and drones have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has carried out air and drone strikes inside Afghanistan amid escalating cross-border violence. And Türkiye’s increasingly adversarial relationship with Israel has taken on a dangerous military dimension in Syria.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement among Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan is being presented as a defensive arrangement that does not target any country. Its declared purpose is deterrence, coordination, and collective security. Those objectives deserve serious consideration. Regional governments have the right to cooperate in protecting their populations, and the United States should welcome responsible allies assuming a greater share of their own defense.