Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to discuss developments in the Middle East and strategic cooperation between the two countries with President Emmanuel Macron during his planned visit to France. The visit is scheduled to take place on Sunday and Monday.
The French presidency said regional issues linked to the effects of the war in the Middle East would be among the main topics of the talks.
Paris and Riyadh to convene partnership council
Macron and Mohammed bin Salman are scheduled to hold the first meeting of the France-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council. The talks are also expected to address issues forming the economic and strategic foundations of the partnership between the two countries.
Paris and Riyadh have military and economic cooperation agreements, particularly in the fields of energy and aviation.
Visit planned amid regional security concerns
The planned talks come at a time of growing concerns that security and economic conditions in the region could deteriorate further. These concerns emerged following developments linked to US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
As of 07:00 GMT on Thursday, the full text of the French presidency’s statement on the visit had not been published. Saudi Arabia’s official sources had also made no announcement about the visit.
Trump threatens economic war against Iran
US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with an “unprecedented economic war” on Thursday. Trump said countries supporting Tehran would face severe economic consequences.
Trump also called for the immediate halting of activities carried out through oil smuggling, barter channels, cash transfers, currency exchange offices, ship registrations and shell companies.
In the process that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Iran struck Israel and US targets in the region. The parties later reached a ceasefire agreement in April.
Washington and Tehran signed an understanding on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz on June 18. However, disagreements over the strait’s security disrupted the implementation of the understanding.
The US resumed its attacks on Iran between July 8 and 24. Iran targeted US military facilities and equipment that it said were located in Arab countries.
