Saudi Crown Prince Visits Cairo for Talks With Egypt's el-Sissi

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader, travelled to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, with security anxieties across the region forming the backdrop to the meeting.

According to Saudi Arabia's state-run news agency, the two leaders were to discuss ways to "strengthen bilateral brotherly relations" along with other matters of mutual interest.

The visit unfolds as Saudi Arabia contends with a rising tempo of missile and drone attacks launched by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and by Iran-aligned militias operating in Iraq. Those strikes have fed worries that the broader regional conflict could increasingly spill over into Gulf Arab states.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are close regional allies with long-standing political and economic ties. Both governments have repeatedly urged de-escalation and have worked to keep the Middle East's overlapping conflicts from widening further.

The talks also take place amid heightened concern over security in the Red Sea, a waterway of strategic importance to both nations. Saudi Arabia holds a long Red Sea coastline, while Egypt controls the Suez Canal, the vital trade artery linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.