CAIRO, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Regional military power Egypt is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with the support it needs to defend its security and stability, the presidency said on Sunday, potentially raising the stakes in the Middle East war as Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis intensify their attacks on the kingdom.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi requested an urgent parliament session to authorise the military, one of the Arab world’s largest, to help defend its Gulf Arab ally if the kingdom requested its support.
A parliamentary vote had been expected on Sunday, but discussions were due to continue on Monday, two lawmakers and local media reports said.
Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, has escalated in recent weeks, becoming another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Any Egyptian military backing for Saudi Arabia could mark a major escalation in the wider Iran war, which has threatened global energy supplies and sent oil prices soaring since the US and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in late February.
Hours after an announcement on further discussions by the parliament, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in a post on X that he discussed regional developments and the importance of de-escalation during a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
HOUTHIS RAMP UP ATTACKS ON SAUDI ARABIA
The Houthis have in recent days attacked Riyadh’s international airport and the state oil company Saudi Aramco, amid renewed fighting with Saudi-backed forces. The Houthi advances threaten the strategic Bab el-Mandeb oil shipping route, following the collapse of a truce.
“Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
The statement followed a meeting of Egypt’s National Defence Council chaired by Sisi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief.
Sisi said in a speech on Saturday that Egypt would act in accordance with guidance from Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited Sisi on September 15, after fighting in Yemen reignited.
If Egypt weighs in, it could face attacks by the Houthis, ragtag mountain fighters who have emerged as a deadly force of tens of thousands and whose missiles and drones threaten the region.
Arab countries, especially Gulf states hosting US bases, have faced repeated attacks by Iran and its allies, including the Houthis and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, during the conflict.
Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta came under a drone attack in July with no group claiming responsibility. Egypt has not blamed any party for the attack but said it was taking necessary measures to protect the country’s national security.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are close strategic and economic partners. Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates provided Egypt with billions of dollars in aid, central-bank deposits and investments after the military ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Sisi became president a year later.
Egypt had previously joined the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government against the Houthis, but played a limited combat role in the civil war.
Riyadh has turned to regional allies and Pakistan after it sought US President Donald Trump’s help to fight the Houthis. Trump did not agree to US strikes, sources told Reuters last month. Washington instead offered targeting assistance and intelligence-sharing.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with talks focusing on regional security, according to the Emirati state news agency.
The talks followed a visit to Riyadh last month by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first trip by a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.
(Reporting by Momen Atallah and Mohamed Hendawy; Writing by Eman Abouhassira, Nayera Abdallah and Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Joe Bavier, Helen Popper and Michael Georgy)
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