French President Emmanuel Macron announced France will send troops and air defense systems to Saudi Arabia to strengthen protection of the kingdom's critical Yanbu oil export facilities, according to Open Source Intel reports. The deployment comes in response to ongoing Houthi attacks targeting Saudi infrastructure.
The move adds a European military presence on Israel's southern front, as the Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles at both Saudi Arabia and Israel throughout the regional conflict. The militia recently struck Riyadh and an Aramco facility, and earlier knocked a Saudi oil pipeline offline with missile fire.
