Syria’s foreign minister has said the country has no troops deployed in Yemen and no plans to send forces there in the near future, while describing a new military agreement with Saudi Arabia as focused on rebuilding Syria’s armed forces.
Asaad al-Shaibani made the remarks at a press conference in Damascus on 9 November alongside his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi. He said there was no agreement with Yemen to deploy Syrian troops there.
“Any military plan to deploy Syrian forces abroad would be announced publicly, not carried out in secret,” al-Shaibani said. He also reaffirmed Syria’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government and condemned Houthi threats against Saudi Arabia.
The minister’s remarks set out the Syrian government’s position; they are not independent verification of military activity on the ground. His denial concerned Yemen and the near future. It did not settle whether Syrian personnel are in Saudi Arabia or rule out a later change in policy.
The Saudi agreement
The defence ministries of Syria and Saudi Arabia concluded a cooperation agreement during Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Riyadh on 4 November. He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the visit.
The Saudi account of the visit confirmed the agreement but did not set out its detailed terms. Al-Shaibani’s subsequent description of its focus on rebuilding Syria’s armed forces therefore gives the Syrian government’s explanation of the deal, rather than the text of the agreement itself.
The defence agreement was one part of a wider set of arrangements announced during the visit. The two sides also concluded memorandums on industrial and agricultural cooperation and environmental protection. The Saudi Fund for Development signed separate agreements covering infrastructure, healthcare, housing and financial services in Syria.
Al-Sharaa came to power after the removal of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Syria faces the task of restoring services and rebuilding institutions after years of civil war.
A separate regional pact
Before the Riyadh visit, al-Shaibani discussed Syria’s possible participation in a regional security framework during a visit to Bahrain. He referred to consultations about the Mecca defence pact, but did not announce that Syria had joined it.
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed that separate agreement in August. Their joint statement says an armed attack on any one of them will be regarded as an attack on all three. The bilateral Syrian–Saudi cooperation agreement is not the same document as the three-country pact.
In October, the three pact members said they would move to implement their collective-defence commitments and make agreed forces and capabilities available for rapid deployment in Saudi Arabia. Their statement described arrangements among the three signatories; it did not announce Syrian membership.
Fighting and diplomacy
Saudi Arabia has backed Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015, after the movement took the city in 2014.
On 8 November, Syria’s foreign ministry condemned attacks on facilities in Riyadh and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Al-Shaibani repeated that support at the Damascus press conference, while also expressing hope that Yemen would regain stability.
Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said its East–West pipeline was targeted in the Madinah region on 9 November, causing a limited fire but no interruption to operations. The ministry did not identify who carried out the attack.
In a statement the following day, Houthi forces denied targeting the pipeline in Madinah and claimed they had targeted pumping stations along it in Riyadh. The accounts and the extent of any damage could not be independently established; it is not clear whether they refer to the same incident.
The war has left a deep humanitarian crisis in Yemen. In its 2026 response plan, the United Nations estimated that more than 22 million people would need humanitarian assistance and protection during the year.
Al-Shaibani spoke after a Syrian–Jordanian coordination council meeting that also addressed regional security and reconstruction. The two governments said they would continue cooperating on border security and combating drug and arms smuggling, and called for conditions that would allow Syrian refugees to return voluntarily and safely.
