Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

Turkey and Qatar have signed a mutual defense agreement, committing the two countries to come to each other’s aid, as Gulf states look to shore up their security during the Iran war.

Getting into it: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, signed the deal Friday in Istanbul, one of five agreements between the two countries, including one on peace and conflict resolution.

Sheikh Tamim called the deal a “strategic partnership,” and Erdogan’s office said it would “add a new dimension” to their relationship and that the two countries would work together to keep war from returning to the Gulf. Turkish troops have been based in Qatar since 2017, but until now neither country was formally bound to defend the other.

Qatar, a key mediator between the US and Iran, has been repeatedly hit by Iranian missiles and drones since the war began in February, and its natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are reportedly running at about 30% of what they were before the war.

The deal is Turkey’s latest defense pact with Muslim-majority countries. It follows the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which Turkey signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August and its parliament approved last week. That pact treats an attack on any member as an attack on all and opens the door for Turkey to back Saudi Arabia militarily in its fight against Yemen’s Houthis. In October, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia also signed a separate defense cooperation agreement.

Notably, both countries are close US allies, with Turkey a NATO member and Qatar designated a major non-NATO ally, and Trump signed an executive order last year pledging to defend Qatar if it’s attacked.