Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa
Syria insists it will not send troops to fight the Houthis alongside Saudi Arabia, but its economic dependence on Riyadh could complicate Damascus’ resistance to the idea.
As Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies keep up a massive offensive launched over the weekend to drive Houthi rebels from their new footholds along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Syria continues to reject reports that the kingdom wants the Syrian army to join the fight.
The Syrian presidency’s media adviser, Ahmed Muwaffaq Zaidan, denied the claims on Thursday via X, saying, “What some media outlets are promoting about the kingdom’s request to send Syrian forces to Saudi Arabia or Yemen is a lie and has no basis in truth.” This follows an earlier rebuttal on Wednesday by Syrian Response, the official English-language account of the government’s Foreign Media Department. The department noted that while Syria stood firmly with Saudi Arabia, the priority remained “rebuilding the country, strengthening its institutions, working with our partners on reconstruction and improving the lives of Syrians.”
“Any military cooperation with partner countries,” it added, “would take place only through official channels and existing bilateral frameworks.”
The statements have done little to quash debate around Syria’s possible involvement in the anti-Houthi campaign, first reported by Asharq Bloomberg’s Hiba Nasr on X. The post, in which she noted that no decision had been made about a deployment, came a day after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa traveled to Riyadh for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Axios and Reuters, citing unnamed Syrian and US officials, followed with similar reports that Riyadh and Damascus were discussing possible Syrian military assistance to Saudi Arabia, including a potential troop deployment to Yemen.
