France to Deploy Troops, Radar, and Air Defense Systems to Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Port Amid Escalating Houthi Attacks on Red Sea Energy Corridor

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on September 25, 2026, that France will send soldiers, radar systems, and defense systems to protect the Red Sea port city of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, which has become a crucial alternative export route as disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz threaten global energy supplies. Macron told French broadcasters TF1 and France 2 that the deployment is strictly defensive and not intended to involve France in regional conflict. The announcement followed a joint ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council and France on September 23 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, attended by all six GCC foreign ministers including Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.

Yanbu hosts major oil storage and refining facilities and is connected by the East-West Pipeline, which can carry up to 7 million barrels per day of Saudi crude from Persian Gulf fields to the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia said on September 25 that its air defenses intercepted six ballistic missiles targeting Yanbu and Taif, with Iran-backed Houthis later claiming missile and drone attacks against Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and a target in Riyadh. Earlier in September, pro-Iranian militias damaged the pipeline in a drone attack, shutting it down, and a Houthi attack damaged the Yasref refinery in the area, forcing its closure. The French deployment represents a significant escalation of European military involvement in Gulf security, with the United Kingdom also providing additional military assistance to Saudi Arabia to defend against Houthi air attacks, according to Militarnyi.

Sources

Sources: Arab News, Yemen Monitor, Yahoo News, Reuters (via Yahoo), Militarnyi, RedState, Bloomberg, Times of Israel, Al Jazeera (September 25, 2026). Pipeline capacity and infrastructure details verified across Wall Street Journal and Arab News reporting.