Saudi Arabia, France Deepen Ties With New Strategic Partnership Council

Paris (GNP): Saudi Arabia and France have agreed to deepen their strategic partnership across defense, technology, and regional diplomacy, while calling for a negotiated solution to tensions with Iran and unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron chaired the inaugural meeting of the Saudi-French Strategic Partnership Council during the crown prince’s visit to Paris, establishing a permanent high-level mechanism for coordinating a relationship that increasingly extends beyond trade and investment into Middle Eastern diplomacy and security.

In a joint statement published by the French presidency, the two leaders said regional stability should rest on state sovereignty, international law, and political solutions to conflicts, a principle that shaped their positions across several of the region’s most pressing disputes.

On Iran, the two sides called for a negotiated settlement to prevent further escalation and reiterated support for a diplomatic resolution ensuring the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear programme, while urging Iran to resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Building on that call for de-escalation, both governments condemned attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and urged a return to the navigation conditions that prevailed before February 28, stressing freedom of navigation, regular commercial traffic, and the absence of direct or indirect tolls or restrictions on vessels passing through the waterway.

Beyond regional security, the two leaders expanded bilateral defense cooperation, adopting a declaration covering armaments and training while pledging greater coordination on security matters.

Also Read: Xi Jinping to Attend SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Visit Egypt

That defense cooperation was paired with a broader economic push, as Saudi Arabia and France agreed to deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, emerging technologies, energy, transport, logistics, and investment, with more than 22 agreements and memorandums of understanding announced as part of the wider Saudi-French investment programme, underscoring how closely the two governments are now linking security cooperation with economic engagement.

That combined approach extended to the region’s active conflicts as well. On Gaza, Paris and Riyadh welcomed the announced agreement on Hamas’s disarmament and called for conditions supporting a sustainable ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian assistance, while both governments reaffirmed support for an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and rejected Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence.

The two sides also agreed to intensify efforts toward a settlement in Lebanon centred on strengthening state institutions and preserving Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, and on Syria, the leaders backed the country’s unity, stability, and economic recovery while welcoming the creation of a Saudi-Syrian-French business council.

Underscoring the economic weight behind the new partnership framework, the French presidency said bilateral trade between the two countries reached approximately $11.8 billion in 2025, with both governments agreeing to expand cross-investment and cooperation in energy security and supply-chain resilience going forward.