Saudi Crown Prince Seeks Egypt's Backing as Houthi Attacks Threaten Red Sea Oil Routes

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo on Tuesday, seeking support from a key ally as Houthi attacks on Saudi shipping and infrastructure continue to unsettle global oil markets.

The two leaders affirmed what the crown prince described as a shared commitment to ensuring freedom and security of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway at the sea's southern entrance. El-Sissi's office said Egypt stood firmly behind Saudi Arabia. Neither side announced concrete steps.

The diplomatic push comes as the Iranian-backed Houthis have rapidly expanded their control in Yemen over the past week, capturing the Red Sea port of Mokha and three strategic islands in and near Bab el-Mandeb. Those gains have strengthened the rebels' ability to disrupt Saudi shipping, which they have been attacking since late July. Bab el-Mandeb links the Red Sea to the open ocean and, beyond it, to Saudi Arabia's largest oil customers in Asia.

The vulnerability of Saudi oil infrastructure was underscored by an attack days ago that damaged the kingdom's biggest pipeline. The strike, reportedly carried out by Iran-allied militias in Iraq, has largely shut down the East-West Pipeline for weeks of repairs, regional officials say, likely removing several million barrels of oil a day from the market.

The Houthi offensive has opened a new front in the region's conflicts and strengthened the hand of Iran, Saudi Arabia's traditional rival, which has also attacked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi Arabia has so far appeared reluctant to launch a major military campaign against the Houthis, wary of provoking more attacks on its oil facilities and being drawn back into a full-scale war in Yemen. Its most essential ally, the United States, has been unpredictable, with President Donald Trump seemingly unwilling to widen an already unpopular and stalemated Middle East conflict ahead of congressional elections. The United Arab Emirates, once a partner in the Saudi-led coalition, has withdrawn after clashes between its allies in Yemen and Saudi-backed forces.

Egypt is unlikely to offer military assistance, but it remains influential in the Arab world and has kept open relations with all parties, including Iran and its allies. Cairo has been central to mediation efforts over the past three years of regional turmoil.

"I don't think MBS wants troops from Cairo, which he knows would be a very difficult ask," said analyst H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Instead, Cairo can provide political backing among Arab nations for whatever steps Riyadh takes against the Houthis, he said.

"There's genuine international consensus that the Houthis cannot be allowed to hold a choke point like Bab al-Mandeb hostage," Hellyer said, though he noted some nations remain wary of working with Saudi Arabia because of past experience in Yemen. The coalition Prince Mohammed assembled in 2015 largely fell apart years ago due to infighting and factionalism.

The Houthi advances have dealt heavy defeats to Saudi allies in Yemen, including the internationally recognized government, and revived a war that had largely quieted under a 2022 truce. Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces has killed more than 500 people in the past week alone, up from nearly 200 the week before, according to the World Health Organization. The violence has displaced nearly 94,000 people.

Save the Children said at least 117 civilians were killed between Aug. 1 and Sept. 9, including 19 children. In the first week of September, 43 children were killed or wounded — the highest weekly casualty toll the group has 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 Rishana Haniffa, the agency's Yemen director.

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. The claim could not be independently verified.

Alerts sounded in several parts of Saudi Arabia early Tuesday, often a sign of missile or drone fire from the Houthis or Iraqi militias, though there was no immediate word on any attacks. On Monday, Houthi missile and drone strikes in southern Saudi Arabia wounded 13 civilians and damaged houses and vehicles, according to Saudi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki.

The Houthis control the capital, Sanaa, and the north and west of Yemen, where most of the population lives. The government and its allied militias hold the south and east, including the largest port, Aden, and the country's oil fields. Saudi Arabia led an aerial bombing campaign against the Houthis beginning in 2015, but its allies made little ground progress. The conflict has killed an estimated 150,000 people and at times pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.