France announces defensive deployment to Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port
On September 24, President Emmanuel Macron said France would send soldiers, radar and defence systems to protect Saudi Arabia's Yanbu oil port on the Red Sea.
On September 24, President Emmanuel Macron said France would send soldiers, radar and defence systems to protect Saudi Arabia's Yanbu oil port on the Red Sea. Macron described the planned mission as protection of the site, not participation in the conflict with Yemen's Houthis. Yanbu is the Red Sea outlet of Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, an export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. Macron did not specify the number of French personnel or the exact systems to be deployed.