Egypt's Parliament Clears Sisi to Defend Saudi Arabia Against Houthi Attacks, but Rules Out a War in Yemen

Egypt has taken a formal step towards the widening conflict in the Gulf. Its House of Representatives on Monday authorised President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to take the measures he judges necessary to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory against attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, should Riyadh ask for that help.

The vote was held behind closed doors and no tally was released, though the chamber is dominated by pro-government lawmakers and Egypt's constitution requires a two-thirds majority before troops can be sent on a combat mission abroad. The opposition Egyptian Social Democratic Party said its 11 members would abstain, arguing that the government had not explained the mission's goals, scope, length or cost.

What Egypt is actually offering

The government gave parliament few specifics, and several lawmakers questioned what exactly they were approving. A regional official briefed on the plan said Egypt would deploy air defence systems and aircraft to help intercept missiles and drones aimed at Saudi Arabia. The same official said the support would be defensive and would not involve ground troops inside Yemen.

That matches what Sisi has said publicly. He has insisted in recent days that Egypt is not preparing to attack Yemen and that any role would be limited to protecting Saudi territory and borders. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, after a visit to Riyadh last week, said Cairo still favoured a diplomatic settlement.

Why the vote was delayed

The authorisation had been scheduled for last week but was pushed back after two days of private deliberations, reflecting unease among Egyptians about being drawn into Yemen's war. The memory is a long one. In the 1960s, President Gamal Abdel Nasser sent tens of thousands of troops to North Yemen in a decade-long intervention that drained the army and the economy, and is widely seen as a factor in Egypt's defeat in the 1967 war with Israel. Egypt has not made a large foreign ground deployment since the 1991 Gulf War, and in 2015 it limited its role in the Saudi-led campaign to naval patrols off Yemen.

Why Cairo is stepping in now

Two things push Egypt in. The first is money: Saudi Arabia is one of Egypt's largest financial backers, and remittances from Egyptians working in the kingdom are a key source of foreign currency. The second is the Red Sea. Houthi attacks near the Bab el-Mandeb strait have disrupted shipping and cut into Suez Canal revenue, one of Egypt's most important earners.

The Houthis have escalated sharply in recent weeks. They have targeted Riyadh's international airport, which was shut for more than two weeks earlier this month, and facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco. On Monday the Saudi-led coalition said it had shot down three more drones over the Riyadh region and the south of the country, a day after intercepting a ballistic missile aimed at the capital.

A crowded diplomatic day

The vote came as diplomacy elsewhere picked up. On the same day, senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey held talks in Tehran aimed at heading off a renewed US-Iran war and curbing Houthi attacks (see our earlier coverage); Iranian state television said the sides agreed to keep talking. In Cairo, Sisi met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has urged maximum restraint.

For India, the stakes are practical. A wider war around Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea threatens both oil supplies and the shipping lanes that carry a large share of India's trade with Europe, at a time when Brent crude is already hovering near $115 a barrel.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.