Syria and Saudi Arabia sign a defence cooperation agreement, with loans of more than $403 million for Damascus

Syria and Saudi Arabia signed a cooperation agreement between their defence ministries on Wednesday, November 4, during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s second visit to Riyadh in less than a month. At the same ceremony the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) signed six concessional loan agreements totalling more than $403 million for the country’s reconstruction. The signing took place at the Al-Yamamah Palace, in the presence of al-Sharaa and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

The defence agreement stood out among those of the visit. The Syrian Foreign Ministry, in a post on X, called it the most notable of those signed. The official Saudi news agency SPA writes in its announcement of the talks that a cooperation agreement was “concluded” between the two defence ministries.

Who attended the ceremony

From the Syrian side the signing ceremony was attended by the foreign, defence, finance and industry ministers and the head of the General Intelligence Service, while on the Saudi side the defence, foreign, energy, industry and environment ministers were present, according to the Syrian agency SANA. Besides the defence agreement, a memorandum on industrial cooperation and two more memoranda on agriculture and environmental protection were signed.

In the formal talks the two leaders examined the consequences of any military escalation for regional and international security, the safety of international navigation, energy supplies and the global economy. They called for an immediate halt to any action threatening navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Strait of Hormuz, and spoke in favour of de-escalation and peaceful resolution of disputes.

Electricity, hospitals and civil protection

The six SFD loans were signed by the Fund’s chief executive Sultan al-Marshad and Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Barnieh. The SPA’s detailed announcement breaks them down as follows:

• $105 million to build, restore and equip 25 civil protection centres in various provinces, together with rubble-clearing equipment,
• $100 million for hospitals and health centres,
• $90 million to rehabilitate the generating units of the Aleppo thermal power plant, with about five million beneficiaries,
• $60 million to repair up to 10,000 damaged homes,
• $30 million for 300,000 smart water meters,
• more than $18 million for the digital transformation of the Syrian Ministry of Finance.

In September 2025 Riyadh had already given Damascus two grants through the same Fund, for crude oil and for part of public employees’ salaries for three months. The two leaders last met in Riyadh on October 6.

Damascus weighs joining the Mecca Pact

The signing came days after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told the Manama Dialogue on Saturday, October 31, that “discussions are under way to assess Syria’s entry” into the Mecca alliance. This is the mutual defence pact of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, which Ankara brought to parliament for ratification in October.

Saudi Arabia is also again at war with Yemen’s Houthis, who have attacked airports and oil facilities in the kingdom, most recently claiming a strike on Abha airport. Riyadh has asked for defensive and offensive support from the US and from countries in Europe and the Middle East.