Macron orders French troops to guard Saudi Arabia's Yanbu oil terminal
The move follows a Houthi claim of missile strikes on the site, which Saudi Arabia has not confirmed
Published
Map: The Middle East, marking Yanbu, Jizan, Najran
French President Emmanuel Macron said France will send troops, radars and air defence systems to protect Saudi Arabia's Yanbu oil terminal, a facility that has been exporting more than 5 million barrels of oil a day.
The Houthis claimed missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities at Yanbu, but Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the claim, and tankers at the port have yet to load. Aramco has told Asian refiners that loadings at Yanbu could resume soon, according to a report citing Vortexa and JPMorgan data.
The Houthis separately claimed an attack on Saudi military sites in Jazan. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed that claim either. Saudi civil defence authorities had warned on Wednesday of possible attacks in Jazan and Najran.
Macron's announcement came the same day he said Russia is multiplying hostile and criminal acts and ordered extra protection for French sites. A day earlier, France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Russia is attacking the whole of Europe, a comment made as Marco Rubio met Sergei Lavrov in New York to discuss a possible ceasefire.
France's decision to put its own forces around Yanbu marks a shift from words to direct military commitment in response to attacks on Gulf oil infrastructure. That commitment could raise the geopolitical risk premium attached to Saudi crude even as it makes further strikes on the terminal harder to carry out, and it raises the stakes should the confrontation widen beyond the current attacks.