Egypt says ready to give Saudi Arabia necessary support amid Houthi fighting

Egypt is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with the support it needs to defend its security and stability, the presidency says, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis intensify their attacks on the world’s largest oil exporter.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had requested an urgent parliament session to authorize the military, one of the region’s largest and most powerful, to help defend Saudi Arabia if the kingdom requested its support.

The Houthis have in recent days attacked Riyadh’s international airport and the ​state oil giant Saudi Aramco, amid renewed fighting with the Saudi-backed forces of ​the internationally recognized government in Yemen following the collapse of a truce.

“Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.

It follows a meeting of Egypt’s National Defense Council chaired by Sissi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief.