Syria is considering defensive aid or troops for Saudi Arabia's campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis. The discussions followed Ahmed al-Sharaa's meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Ahmad Zaidan, media adviser to Ahmed al-Sharaa, denied on X that any request for military deployment was made.
Ahmed al-Sharaa flew to Riyadh on Tuesday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Syrian state television footage showed Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince's brother and the official in charge of the Yemen file, walking al-Sharaa back to his plane.
Damascus is open to taking part, with any assistance likely to be symbolic, intended mainly to show that Riyadh can rally backing for its campaign.
A Syrian diplomat stated that Syria stands firmly with Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks, while stressing that the government's priority remains recovery at home after the 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.
Damascus has stayed out of regional fighting to concentrate on rebuilding after 14 years of civil war. Saudi Arabia has given Syria financial aid to support this recovery.
For Israel, the prospect of Syrian involvement in a Saudi-led coalition against an Iranian proxy marks a potential shift in regional alignments, though Damascus has not committed to any deployment.
"A new Syria sending defensive personnel of a very small number to the most holy places in the Islamic world, alongside technical support to neutralize incoming drones, would be tremendously and positively symbolic," said H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Syrian "boots on the ground," he added, would be "a wholly different proposition."
After weeks of Houthi missile and drone fire, Saudi Arabia has sought help from the US, Europe and the Middle East. Yemeni government forces with Saudi air support are leading the ground war in an operation code-named "Dawn of Yemen," launched this week. Its goal is to recapture ground near the Bab al-Mandab Strait taken by the Houthis in early September, including the towns of al-Mokha and Dhubab.
Riyadh confirmed on Wednesday that Houthi missiles striking Saudi airports had killed three people over two days. Strikes on Abha International and Riyadh's King Khalid International also wounded 36, the Saudi civil aviation authority reported. Before the war, Riyadh had opened its airspace to civilian flights to and from Israel.
