French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is scheduled to begin a three-day tour of Gulf states on Wednesday to strengthen defence partnerships and discuss the wars in Iran and Lebanon, ministerial sources have said.
The tour will start with a dinner organised by Saudi officials on Wednesday, followed by meetings on Thursday in Qatar.
Mr Barrot will then head to Abu Dhabi to meet French troops stationed there, and Emirati leaders.
The final leg of his trip will take place in Oman on Friday, where he will meet Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi.
The main goal of the trip, which comes after similar visits made by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU foreign affairs minister Kaja Kallas, is to “consolidate a Franco-Gulf, and even Euro-Gulf approach", sources at the French Foreign Ministry said.
“It is clear that Gulf countries will not emerge from this crisis unchanged,” they said. “They will face different challenges, different needs, different requirements, and will reconfigure their partnerships, and we intend to play our full part in this.”
The sources said Paris would “need to expand, amplify and also renew security partnerships” in view of close defence co-operation between Europe and the Gulf. France sent Rafale jets and air-defence systems to the UAE to fight against Iranian drone and missile attacks. It has defence agreements with Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“This war, like the war in Ukraine, is part of a new way of waging war; in particular the extensive use of drones and AI, and there are new partnerships that need to be established,” the source said.
Naval mission
Mr Barrot will also seek to co-ordinate with Gulf partners on addressing the situation in Lebanon and Iran, where temporary ceasefires have been struck with the US and Israel after their joint attack against Iran on February 28.
Paris has co-ordinated with London to launch an initiative with 51 states for a defensive naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz after a long-term ceasefire is struck.
However France, which has close ties to Beirut, has been sidelined by Israel in Lebanese peace talks, which have taken place in Washington.
France has had no contact with Iran-backed Hezbollah since the death of two of its soldiers in south Lebanon last week at the hands of a group of men probably affiliated with the group.
“We have a fairly close-knit approach with certain Gulf countries, in particular Saudi Arabia,” the diplomatic sources said. “We have the same support for Lebanese sovereignty, for the Lebanese state, for the territorial integrity of Lebanon as well, but also a fine understanding of the fragile Lebanese balances and an attachment to the stability of this country.”
France has a history of co-ordinating diplomatic moves with Saudi Arabia, including in leading efforts in September on Palestinian statehood recognition at the UN General Assembly. In the past week, Saudi Arabia has intensified its engagement with Lebanon through high-level contacts, providing a significant political boost towards efforts to consolidate the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
In the longer term, France, alongside other European states, hopes to “de-risk” the Hormuz Strait by giving a new impetus to alternative trade routes in the region, particularly the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), the sources said.
Signed in New Delhi weeks before the October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel, the IMEC's early momentum stalled. While India has pushed forward with the development of its seaports, the railway segment of the IMEC that crosses the Arabian Peninsula has been slow to roll.
New routes through Syria, which has re-engaged with Europe since the regime of former president Bashar Al fell, should also be considered, the sources said. “We have a certain number of companies or operators that can contribute effectively to these new infrastructures."
