Egypt prepared to defend Saudi Arabia after deadly Houthi airport attack
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said his country’s military is prepared to protect Saudi Arabia from escalating attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, raising the prospect of a wider regional conflict.
The offer follows a Houthi strike on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Oct. 10, which killed 13 people — including and American.
“It is inconceivable that we would allow Saudi Arabia, its security or stability to be harmed,” Sisi told at the Egyptian Military Academy on Saturday.
El Sisi said that his country was prepared to join the fighting between the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia and the Iran-backed terrorist group — if Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman requests it.
Egypt’s parliament scheduled an emergency session Sunday to grant authorization for military efforts in defense of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have been locked in a conflict since the rebel group seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and ousted its former president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, in 2014. Saudi Arabia has led a coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
The conflict died down following a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, but reignited in July following the US-Israeli war in Iran.
The terrorist group has also placed a blockade upon the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, choking Saudi oil exports.
Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabian infrastructure have thrown the already-volatile region into a state of alarm, with Arab leaders fearing the conflict could erupt into a full-blown regional war.
Saudi Arabia announced it struck down four drones launched at various regions of the country, including its capital, Riyadh Saturday.
“We have intercepted and destroyed four drones over the past few hours in the regions of Riyadh, the Eastern Province, and the South,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote on X.
The terrorist group struck the headquarters of Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil facility Aramco Wednesday, which caused damage to the building but no casualties.
Iran has provided the Houthis with training and intelligence as well has help targeting drone attacks that has aided them in their onslaught on Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported.
President Trump has held off on attacking the Houthis since a May 2025 ceasefire between the US and the Yemen-based terrorist group.
However, following the bloody airport strike, Trump threatened that the US may come to Saudi Arabia’s aid.
“We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters Oct. 10 after being asked if he would join Saudia Arabia attacks against the Houthis.
He also floated the possibility of Turkey joining the fight.
“I have a lot of respect for the president of Turkey, President Erdogan, I think, would do as I ask,” he told reporters Tuesday in reference to the possibility of him asking Turkey to strike the Houthis.