PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 25th, 2026: France Deploys Ground Troops To Saudi Arabia & China’s Nuclear Program Draws Scrutiny

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Friday, the 25th of September. Congratulations, we've made it to the end of another work week. Well done, everyone. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, and your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the conflict between the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudis is widening, as France sends troops and defensive systems to the kingdom, and Riyadh turns to Turkey and Pakistan for additional military support. I'll have the details. Later in the show, the Trump administration is reportedly quietly pressing China over suspected secret nuclear tests as Beijing rapidly expands its nuclear arsenal. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Another European nation is stepping in to help defend Saudi Arabia, as the Iranian-supported Houthi campaign against the Saudi kingdom continues. France says it's sending troops, radar systems and air defense capabilities to protect Yombu, the critical Saudi oil hub on the Red Sea. President Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment on Thursday, describing it as a defensive mission aimed at protecting Saudi infrastructure and helping stabilize global energy supplies. Paris has not said how many French troops will be involved, exactly what air defense systems will be sent or when they will arrive. But the significance is clear. French military personnel will now be on the ground, potentially positioned underneath incoming Houthi missiles and drones. As we've discussed here on the PDB, with traffic through the Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted by the war with Iran, Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its east-west pipeline to move crude across the kingdom to terminals on the Red Sea. Yanbu sits at the western end of that route. So if the Houthis can threaten Yanbu, they can threaten one of Saudi Arabia's most important alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi officials said Thursday that their forces intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at targets including Yanbu and Taif. The Houthis claimed an even larger barrage involving missiles and drones and also said they targeted Saudi Aramco facilities at Yanbu. That particular claim has not been independently confirmed. France is presenting its deployment as defensive and there's no indication at this point that French forces are preparing to conduct strikes inside Yemen. But as we've been reporting, Paris is not acting alone. The UK has already agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with aerial refueling support, deploying a Royal Air Force Voyager tanker from Cyprus to help keep Saudi aircraft airborne longer.

So now you have the UK helping sustain Saudi air operations, France preparing to put troops and defensive systems on the ground, and today we learned that Riyadh is calling in two more partners. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are preparing an urgent meeting of their military chiefs to discuss what support Riyadh may receive under the three countries' new defense agreement. Their foreign ministers met this week in New York during the UN General Assembly, and Turkish officials say the country's chief of general staff is traveling to Saudi Arabia to meet with his Saudi and Pakistani counterparts. The purpose of the meeting, according to officials, is to discuss ways to support the kingdom. The trilateral agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, says that an attack against one member will be treated as an attack against all three. Now, when the deal was signed, it all sounded fairly theoretical. But that's now changed. Saudi Arabia is facing repeated missile and drone attacks, and its military partners are being asked to decide what their commitment actually means in practice.

Turkey's parliament has not yet completed ratification of the agreement, and no Turkish or Pakistani combat deployment has been announced. Officials have also suggested that any immediate support could come through bilateral arrangements rather than the formal activation of the trilateral pact. So, this could still result in relatively limited assistance. Technical teams, intelligence sharing, interceptors, air defense systems, or logistical support. But step back and look at the direction in which this is all moving. Britain is providing refueling support. France is sending troops and air defenses. Turkey and Pakistan are now holding urgent military consultations.

All of it is happening as Houthi attacks on Saudi territory become more frequent, and Riyadh looks for outside help to protect its cities and energy infrastructure.

And there's another layer to all of this. Iranian President Masoud Pazeski has been publicly distancing Tehran from the Houthi offensive. We have nothing to do with that. Arguing that the group makes its own decisions. And because he probably lacks a sense of humor or irony or self-awareness, he said that with a straight face. Not even a quick snicker after claiming that the Houthis are independent. Of course, Tehran would have every reason, of course, to downplay its role in the attacks that are now threatening to pull additional countries into the conflict. At the same time, regional and Iranian sources have told Reuters that the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, has provided guidance to Houthi forces during their recent operations. Not to mention, but I think I'm about to, the regime's efforts over the years to build the Houthis into an effective Iranian proxy force. Weapons, munitions, money, training, strategic guidance. Credible reporting has repeatedly noted that IRGC commanders are on the ground in Yemen working with the Houthis. But of course, Peseshkian says, it's no connection to us. But it does raise an interesting question. Who inside the Iranian regime actually has the authority or the responsibility for controlling the Houthis? It's not clear, just as it's not clear who actually is in charge in Iran. Regardless, the reality is if the Iranian regime wanted the Houthis to stop their attacks on the Saudis and their current ground offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, well, they could make that happen. But right now, the regime is using the Houthis in a broader strategy to exert further pressure on the US and attempt to gain maximum leverage in any negotiations.