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Syria is helping Saudi Arabia with military advice and training as the Saudis face attacks from Yemen’s Houthis, and has sent a limited number of military personnel there, two Syrian military sources and a senior U.S. official told Reuters.
Advisers and training teams from Syria are traveling to Saudi Arabia to help train Saudi and Yemeni units inside the Saudi Arabia to improve their combat effectiveness, the U.S. official said.
The two Syrian sources said scores of personnel had gone to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks for advisory and training work, though their mandate could be broader.
"Any suggestion of military deployments at this stage is premature," a senior Syrian diplomat told Reuters, adding that Syria’s focus remains internal security, protecting its borders and reconstruction.
The diplomat said a Syrian-Saudi defense cooperation deal signed Wednesday "specifically includes advisory support, training and exchange of expertise." The agreement, signed during President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Riyadh, his second meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in less than a month, is a "broad framework for military cooperation," the diplomat said.
No details were announced.
A senior Saudi official told Reuters that expertise sharing was "mainly to restructure the Syrian forces, but that doesn’t mean also our Syrian partners don’t help us in their combat experience regarding fighting militias." Joint training exercises are underway, with more planned in security and defense, the official said.
The Saudi Fund for Development also signed six agreements with Syria’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday for concessional development loans worth more than $403 million.
Washington has urged Damascus to move cautiously, the senior U.S. official said, warning that any Syrian deployment to help in the Yemen war risked drawing the country into the wider regional conflict, which it has so far avoided.
Saudi Arabia has been in worsening hostilities with the Houthis since July, when the Yemen war reignited amid the wider Middle East conflict.
The Houthis have fired missiles at Saudi airports and oil facilities, while Riyadh has launched airstrikes in support of its Yemeni allies.
Reuters reported in October that Syria was weighing defensive or offensive military aid to Saudi Arabia.
Türkiye, a close ally of Damascus, ratified the Mecca defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Thursday, clearing the way for Ankara to send military support to Riyadh.
"The Saudi-Syrian agreement may evolve to include broader defense cooperation in the future, such as the Mecca pact," the Syrian diplomat said.
Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani recently said discussions were underway on Syria’s entry into the pact. "Syria considers the security of the Arab Gulf part of regional security. Syria stands by the people and the governments of the Gulf in the face of challenges and militias operating across borders," he said.
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