By Timour Azhari
RIYADH, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Syria is carefully considering providing military assistance to key ally Saudi Arabia amid an escalating war against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, a US official and a Syrian military official briefed on the matter said.
Options being considered include defensive aid to protect the kingdom from attacks, or deployment of forces in an offensive capacity to help Saudi-backed Yemeni troops fight the Houthis, the sources said.
The US official said Saudi Arabia had requested that Syria deploy forces to fight the Houthis.
In response to a request for comment to the Syrian foreign ministry, a Syrian diplomat said Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia in the face of Houthi attacks but that the government’s primary focus was on domestic priorities such as recovery from the country’s civil war.
“Should Saudi Arabia request any military cooperation or exchange of expertise, this would take place exclusively through official channels and within the framework of the bilateral agreements governing relations between our two brotherly countries,” the diplomat said in a statement.
The Saudi government media office and Yemen’s information minister did not respond to requests for comment.
Saudi Arabia has been requesting assistance far and wide, from the US to Europe and the Middle East, for both defensive and offensive support in a renewed war against the group that follows weeks of Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.
The war is being led on the ground by a patchwork of Yemeni government forces with Saudi air support. They have made limited advances since the campaign was launched on Monday.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa made a public visit to Riyadh on Tuesday and met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS. He discussed potential Syrian military assistance for the kingdom, among other matters, the US official said.
Footage broadcast by Syrian state media showed that he was escorted back to his plane by Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince who has overseen the Yemen file.
DEPLOYMENT COULD DEEPEN TENSIONS WITH NEIGHBOURS
Syrian fighters from opposition groups that battled former leader Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war have in past years been recruited as mercenaries for other conflicts, notably Libya’s internal conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war.
But for Damascus, any potential deployment carries risks.
The militias that made up the armed opposition are now under the nascent Syrian state, which has adopted a policy of avoiding engagement in conflict, including the Iran war, to focus on recovery from the 14-year Syrian civil war.
The state is still piecing together its army from the various militia groups from the former rebel coalition that toppled Assad, which included many hardline Sunni Islamist and foreign fighters, and trying to contain tensions with minorities including the Alawites, a Shi’ite offshoot to which Assad belonged.
A conflict between that army and the Houthis, who are also adherents of an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, could have divisive religious undertones that the Syrian leadership and its Western partners want to avoid, the US official said.
It is for this reason that it previously rejected a US request to help fight Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Involvement in a battle against the Iran-backed Houthis could also be viewed as a hostile act by Iran and its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and militias in Iraq, with which the Syrian rebels-turned-rulers have a history of conflict.
KEEN TO SHOW SUPPORT
At the same time, Sharaa is keen to show the country’s support for Saudi Arabia and MbS, who played a decisive role helping the former jihadist gain international legitimacy, including by brokering a May 2025 meeting between Sharaa and US President Donald Trump.
Saudi Arabia has also provided financial assistance to Syria and a Syrian show of support could result in that increasing, the US official said.
“A new Syria sending defensive personnel of a very small number to the most holy places in the Islamic world, alongside technical support to neutralise incoming drones, would be tremendously and positively symbolic,” said H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
“But anything beyond, particularly in terms of Syrian boots on the ground, I think would be a wholly different proposition, and one I think Damascus would avoid, given the priorities they need to focus on in Syria,” he said.
(Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Comments