Yemen war harder to resolve if Egypt joins, Iran says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any Egyptian or other foreign involvement in the Yemen war would make the conflict harder to resolve.

“Egypt has sufficient experience to avoid entangling itself in such a highly complex conflict,” Araghchi said in an interview with Iraqi state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya aired on Tuesday. He said Iran believed any foreign presence or interference would make resolution more difficult.

Araghchi added that Egypt had said it “will not enter Yemen or engage in a war against Yemen”.

Egypt's parliament on Monday delayed until next week a debate on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia. Sisi asked lawmakers to approve support if requested by Saudi Arabia, which has come under near-daily attacks from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis. Sisi said Egypt was speaking only about defence and was not seeking to confront or attack anyone.

The decade-plus war between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government reignited in July. The Houthis seized much of Yemen's Red Sea coastline in September and have since attacked Saudi Arabia, including strikes on Aramco and Riyadh's international airport, where 13 people were killed on October 10.