Sissi and Saudi crown prince hold Cairo talks amid rising regional threats
Egypt's president and Saudi Arabia's crown prince wrapped up talks in Cairo focused on bilateral ties and shared regional concerns.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader, concluded talks in Cairo on Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, capping a visit that underscored the two countries' close alignment on regional affairs.
The discussions came against a backdrop of growing security pressures on Saudi Arabia, which has been facing a steady stream of missile and drone attacks launched by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as well as Iran-aligned militias operating in Iraq. Those strikes have fuelled worries that the broader regional conflict could increasingly spill over into Gulf Arab states.
Security in the Red Sea also weighed on the agenda. The waterway is of strategic importance to both nations: Saudi Arabia has a long Red Sea coastline, while Egypt controls the Suez Canal, the crucial trade route linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
Saudi Arabia's state-run news agency said the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.
Both Cairo and Riyadh have repeatedly pressed for de-escalation in the region and have sought to keep the Middle East's various conflicts from widening further.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are long-standing regional allies with strong political and economic ties, and the Cairo meeting served as the latest round of consultations between two of the Arab world's most influential capitals.