Sisi Asks Egypt’s Parliament to Authorise Defending Saudi Arabia as Iran Denies Arming the Houthis

On Thursday, Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy Rayed Krimly said that Iran had “encouraged” the latest Houthi escalation, according to a report carried by the Manila Times. He added that the Houthis had turned down an offer to meet in Oman when the fighting began.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei answered on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any claim that Iran has played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations,” his statement said. Yemen’s forces, it added, “act according to their own interests and assessments”. Tehran “has always been ready to use its good offices to help end the hostilities.”

The Houthis described their missile and drone strike on the Yemeni government’s seat in Aden as an attack on “the Saudi forces’ command headquarters” and a weapons depot. Aden’s security office said two missiles landed inside the airport perimeter on Friday and that nobody was killed. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said that day that two tankers were attacked northeast of Al Jubayl, one by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat, as the Iran International live blog relayed.

On 9 October Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and on Abha airport. “We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia in the face of these threats,” he wrote on X, in a post quoted by Dawn. On Tuesday Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: “All of Pakistan’s resources are available for Saudi Arabia,” according to Pakistan Today.

On Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that the attacks must stop. Arab News reported that he called talks between Iran and the United States “the only viable means” of settling their differences.

On Saturday, “This move and this defence require approval from the Egyptian parliament,” Sisi said, in The National’s translation, and added “if we are asked to do so.” Gulf News quoted a further line: “We must not forget the support our brothers in the Gulf have given Egypt.” It reported that he would act only on a request from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and that he appealed for an end to the fighting. Translations of the speech differ from outlet to outlet.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on 7 August 2026. An armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, Pakistan Today reported. At an emergency meeting in Riyadh on 5 October, the pact’s Strategic-Political and Defence Committee agreed to prepare forces for rapid deployment in the kingdom.

Muhib Rahman and Nazmus Sakib wrote in War on the Rocks on 14 October that “the pact does not require members to enter a war automatically or at a similar scale.” They put Pakistan’s deployment at roughly 8,000 troops, about 16 JF-17 fighter jets, two drone squadrons and a Chinese-made HQ-9 air-defence system.

Silent Dossier’s earlier report on Erdoğan’s plan to take the pact to Türkiye’s parliament shows a pact member going through the step that Sisi now asks for, and Egypt is not a signatory.

Egypt’s 2014 constitution bars the president from sending troops on combat missions outside the country except after consulting the National Defence Council and winning a two-thirds majority in parliament, under Article 152. Sisi went to parliament for the same kind of mandate over Libya in 2020, according to Ahram Online.

Carmiel Mahony, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote on 16 October that Saudi Arabia “reportedly requested additional air-defense deployments from France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and Egypt.” She added: “None obliged.” Sisi spoke the next day, and his “if we are asked” leaves open whether Riyadh has asked.

He told the same audience that his presidency ends in 2030, a line covered in When Does Sisi’s Term End?.