MBS seeks Egypt backing as Houthi attacks threaten Red Sea oil route

Mohammed bin Salman met Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo to seek Egypt's backing as Houthi attacks hit Red Sea shipping and Saudi oil infrastructure. The outreach highlights Riyadh's search for political support as the Yemen war again threatens trade routes, energy supplies and civilians.

In Short

• Houthi fighters captured Mokha and strategic islands near Bab el-Mandeb Strait
• Damage to Saudi East-West Pipeline could remove millions of barrels daily
• Egypt backed Riyadh politically but is not expected to offer troops

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday sought Egypt's backing as Saudi Arabia faces escalating attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping and oil infrastructure, a conflict that has also helped push up global oil prices. The Houthis' recent battlefield gains near the Red Sea have increased their ability to threaten Saudi oil exports through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

During a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the crown prince said the two sides had confirmed "their shared commitment to ensuring freedom and security of maritime navigation" in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. El-Sissi's office said Egypt's position was one of "unwavering support for Saudi Arabia", though neither side announced any specific future steps.

Saudi Arabia has largely been left to confront the Iranian-backed Houthis on its own as the rebels have rapidly captured more territory in Yemen over the past week. In recent days, Houthi fighters seized the Red Sea port of Mokha and three strategic islands in and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, strengthening their position to choke Saudi shipping, which they have been attacking since late July. The waterway links the Red Sea to the open ocean and onwards to Saudi Arabia's biggest oil customers in Asia.

The pressure on Saudi oil supplies was underlined by an attack days ago that damaged the kingdom's biggest pipeline, reportedly carried out by Iran-allied militias in Iraq. Regional officials said the East-West Pipeline would be largely shut for weeks for repairs, likely taking several million barrels of oil a day off the market. The Houthi offensive has opened a new front in the Middle East conflict and boosted Iran's hand at a time when it has also attacked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

The shutdown is also likely to sharply reduce or stop for weeks the Saudi shipments that had been redirected through the Red Sea during the Iran war, much of it moving through the Suez Canal or an Egyptian pipeline linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping during the Gaza war had already cut traffic through the Suez Canal, hurting Egypt's revenues. Even so, Egypt is not expected to provide military support, though it remains influential in the Arab world and has played a central role in mediation efforts over the past three years while maintaining ties with all sides, including Iran and its allies.

Saudi Arabia has so far appeared reluctant to launch a major new military campaign against the Houthis, wary of triggering more attacks on its oil infrastructure and being pulled back into a full-scale civil war in Yemen. But with Houthi attacks continuing, Riyadh may have to decide whether to intensify its military response or seek a diplomatic solution. The kingdom's main ally, the United States, has been seen as unpredictable, with President Donald Trump appearing reluctant to widen an already unpopular and stalled regional war ahead of congressional elections. The United Arab Emirates, once a key partner in the Saudi-led coalition, has also pulled out after disputes between its allies in Yemen and those of Saudi Arabia.

Analyst H A Hellyer said there were clear limits to what Cairo could do. "I don't think MBS wants troops from Cairo, which he knows would be a very difficult ask," he said. Instead, Hellyer said, Egypt could help the Saudis build political backing among Arab countries for any action against the Houthis. "There's genuine international consensus that the Houthis cannot be allowed to hold a choke point like Bab al-Mandeb hostage," he said, while adding that some countries remained wary of working with Saudi Arabia because of its past record in Yemen. Referring to the coalition Mohammed bin Salman first assembled in 2015, Hellyer said it had largely fallen apart years ago because of infighting and factionalism. "MBS is keenly aware of this and will be trying to make it clear there is a much better plan for going forward," Hellyer said. "It just depends on how many are convinced."

The recent Houthi gains have dealt major setbacks to Saudi allies in Yemen, including the internationally recognised government, and revived a war that had largely quietened under a 2022 truce. The World Health Organization said fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces had killed more than 500 people in the past week alone, up from nearly 200 the week before, and displaced nearly 94,000 people. Save the Children said at least 117 civilians were killed between August 1 and September 9, including 19 children. It said 43 children were killed or wounded in the first week of September, the highest weekly child casualty toll it had recorded in a year. "Children are once again paying the highest price for some of the most severe violence the country has seen in years," said the group's Yemen director, Rishana Haniffa.

Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said in a post on X on Tuesday that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen's Taiz province, though the claim could not be independently verified. Alerts were also sounded in several parts of Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday, often a sign of missile or drone fire from the Houthis or Iraqi militias, but there was no immediate word on any attack. On Monday, Houthi missile and drone strikes in southern Saudi Arabia wounded 13 civilians and damaged houses and vehicles, Saudi military spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Malki said.

The Houthis control Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the north and west, where most of the population lives, while the government and allied militias hold the south and east, including Aden and Yemen's oil fields. Saudi Arabia began a bombing campaign against the Houthis in 2015, but its allies made little ground progress. The conflict has killed an estimated 150,000 people and at times brought Yemen close to famine. Tuesday's meeting in Cairo underlined Saudi Arabia's search for support as the Houthis widen the war's impact from Yemen's front lines to shipping lanes, oil supplies and the wider region.

With PTI Inputs

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