Egypt Pushes 4-Nation De-Escalation Bloc as Gulf Tensions Mount
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke by phone on Tuesday with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, according to two separate ministry statements issued Wednesday.
On the Saudi call, Abdelatty reviewed regional developments and “efforts to contain the current crisis amid growing risks of escalation,” while urging that political and peaceful solutions be pursued through dialogue. The ministry’s wording was that he stressed the need to “advance political and peaceful solutions through dialogue.”
The two ministers agreed to “continue close consultations and coordination bilaterally and through a four-way ministerial mechanism that also includes Türkiye and Pakistan.”
That mechanism links Egypt, Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, and is designed to sharpen consultation and coordination on de-escalation and to back political solutions to regional crises.
The call came one day after Egypt’s parliament voted by a two-thirds majority to authorize President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take necessary measures, in coordination with the kingdom, to support Saudi Arabia and defend its territory, sovereignty and holy sites.
It also follows months of military escalation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi group, which has included Houthi strikes on civil aviation facilities and energy infrastructure inside the kingdom since July.
Saudi Arabia has headed a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthis since March 2015. The Houthis have held Sanaa and several provinces since September 2014.
In the second statement, the ministry said Abdelatty and his Emirati counterpart reviewed the latest regional developments, with a focus on mounting signs of possible escalation in the period ahead.
Abdelatty urged regional states to “unite their efforts to reach peaceful solutions and return all parties to a peaceful political track to prevent the region from sliding into a more dangerous phase of the current crisis.”
The diplomacy unfolds as mediators try to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran, which remain at odds over the terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on Feb. 28, and Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and on US military facilities in Arab countries.
Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 18 and opened negotiations, but the talks later collapsed amid disputes that included maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for global energy and trade flows.
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