Parliament authorised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi yesterday to take ‘all necessary measures’ to help Saudi Arabia defend itself – a move that could push Cairo more directly into the conflict between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis.
Sisi had asked parliament to approve military support for Egypt’s Gulf ally and the world’s biggest oil exporter if Riyadh requested help in fighting the Houthis, whose advances also threaten the strategic Bab Al Mandeb Strait – southern gateway to the Red Sea and Egypt’s Suez Canal.
At least two-thirds of the chamber backed the measure, according to an official parliamentary statement.
Parliament voted in closed session without publishing the tally, and no formal Saudi request for Egyptian troops has been announced.
The statement did not specify what kind of support Egypt would provide. Taher Al Khouly, deputy head of parliament’s legislative committee, told Reuters that Egypt would send forces to Saudi Arabia in co-ordination between the two countries and at Saudi Arabia’s request.
Several opposition groups opposed or declined to back the move. The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of opposition parties, rejected Egyptian military involvement in a regional war and said last week that Cairo’s role should focus on mediation.
The Egyptian Social Democratic Party had said its legislators would abstain, citing a lack of information on the mission’s aims, duration and cost, while saying it remained supportive of Saudi Arabia.
Egypt has frequently condemned Iranian and Iranian-backed attacks on Gulf countries, but it has not publicly engaged in direct combat or joined the Mecca mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye, signed in August.
Ministers from the pact’s member countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed to ensure the ‘rapid deployment’ of forces and military capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan approved the agreement last week, while Turkish parliament began ratifying it last week.
Britain said last week it would deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets on missions to help protect Saudi cities and critical infrastructure from Houthi aerial attacks.
The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said yesterday that it had weakened the Houthi militia’s ability to target sites inside Saudi Arabia by destroying tunnels used to store ballistic missiles and missile launchers.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al Maliki said five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchpads and another missile storage facility had been destroyed during an operation in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said yesterday it had received third-party reports of a vessel on fire 63 nautical miles southeast of Al Faw, Iraq, adding that the crew’s status, extent of any damage and any environmental impact were unknown.
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