France to send troops, radar and defense systems to protect Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu

PARIS, Sept 24: France will deploy troops, radar systems and defense equipment to help protect the Saudi Red Sea port city of Yanbu following missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.

Macron said the deployment was agreed with Saudi Arabia and would be strictly defensive. “We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defence systems, to protect this site – not to get us involved in any conflicts, but to protect this site,” he told TF1 and France 2 television.

The announcement came after Saudi Arabia’s Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles allegedly launched by the Iran-backed Houthis toward the areas of Taif and Yanbu. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Houthis.

A separate report said a Greek-operated air-defense system in the wider Yanbu region also intercepted a ballistic missile and a drone on Thursday. Yanbu is home to major oil-refining and export facilities and serves as a key alternative route for Saudi crude exports when shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted.