Egypt vows to protect Saudi Arabia, calls emergency session of parliament

The move follows a week of Houthi strikes that have reached Riyadh and Jeddah, with explosions reported again overnight.

Egypt's president said his country will take whatever measures are necessary to defend Saudi Arabia and has called for parliament to meet in emergency session. He gave no further detail on what those measures would involve.

The statement follows fresh explosions in Jeddah after a claimed Houthi strike on an Aramco site a day earlier. A week of attacks has now reached as far as Riyadh, where the campaign has caused confirmed damage at King Khalid airport, deaths, and a fire at an Aramco building. Sirens and explosions have also been heard again in Najran and Jazan.

A Houthi spokesperson has said that any Saudi strike on Sanaa will draw retaliation in Riyadh.

Egypt's pledge adds a new state actor to a conflict that has already drawn in the Mecca Alliance, now operationally deployed, and France, which has committed to protecting Yanbu. It extends a pattern in which regional and international powers are treating Saudi security as a shared obligation rather than a matter for Riyadh alone. Washington has already described the Houthi campaign as Iran-directed, and Pentagon options remain unexecuted. Egypt's move adds another party with a stated interest in how Saudi Arabia responds, though it does not change confirmed oil export volumes or production.