Syria, Saudi Arabia sign defence cooperation deal, agree $403m in loans

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have overseen the signing of several agreements, including a defence cooperation deal, and more than $403m in Saudi loans for Syria’s energy, housing, health and infrastructure sectors. Syria’s Foreign Ministry called the cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defence ministries the “most notable” of the deals.

But it did not disclose the terms. The defence agreement came days after Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government was weighing whether to join a mutual defence pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan.

“Discussions are currently under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance,” al-Shaibani said on Saturday at the Manama Dialogue, a security conference in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia has sought help from the United States and countries in Europe and the Middle East for both defensive and offensive support, in a renewed war against the Houthis in Yemen.