France plans to deploy troops, radar systems and air-defense equipment to Saudi Arabia to help protect an oil refinery and a crude oil pipeline at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the deployment was agreed upon with Saudi authorities and stressed that Paris was “not getting involved in any conflict.”
Macron linked the rise in oil prices primarily to the international situation, saying France was seeking to address the causes of the crisis through diplomatic means. Paris is also participating in efforts to restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while looking for alternative sources of energy supplies.
France plans to raise the issue of energy security with G7 countries in the coming weeks.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Yanbu has become a major hub for supplying diesel, crude oil and other petroleum products to Europe since the start of the war with Iran, allowing Saudi exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
The pipeline’s operations were suspended on September 11 following attacks by Iraqi armed groups and resumed on September 22.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy suspended operations of the East-West oil pipeline along sections in the Medina and Riyadh regions following several attacks.