Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Saturday the Iran war has placed the Middle East on a "historical crossroads" and strongly condemned Tehran's attacks on its Arab neighbours.
The Egyptian leader's comments came one day after he admonished his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian over Tehran's missile and drone attacks on its Arab neighbours, saying Cairo "decisively condemns and absolutely rejects" them.
However, his comments on Saturday appeared to reflect a much greater level of alarm over the fallout from the Iran war and its impact on Egypt's frail economy.
"Our region today stands at a historical crossroads facing formidable challenges and quickly shifting variables at a very delicate circumstance," he told members of the his government, the speakers of parliament's two chambers and military leaders over Iftar, the sunset meal that Muslims take to break their Ramadan fast.
"Looking east, we are trying our very best to put out the flames of war in the Arabian Gulf. The war there carries calamitous economic, humanitarian and security consequences that no one has the strength to fend off. They will reach everyone without exception," he warned, according to a statement issued by his office.
This is the second time since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28 that the Egyptian leader says Cairo was mediating to end the war. At both times, however, he did not give any details or say whether the effort was making any progress.
Egypt has close economic and political ties with Gulf Arab states and also has a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, with which relations have been fraught with tension since the Gaza war broke out in 2023.
It's a close US ally since the 1970s, with Mr El Sisi and President Donald Trump often heaping lavish praise on each other's leadership.
Egypt's relations with Iran have recently thawed after decades of tension caused by differences over what Cairo sees as Tehran's meddling in internal Arab affairs and its support for armed groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
The two regional powerhouses, however, have not restored full diplomatic relations - something that is seen as a reflection of Cairo's enduring disapproval of some of Iran's regional policies.
"These attacks [on Iran's Arab neighbours] must end and must end now," Mr El Sisi told Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone on Friday, according to an Egyptian presidential statement.
On Saturday he said: "Egypt reiterates its uncompromising condemnation of the attacks targeting brotherly Arab states as well as actions that breach their security and stability during the ongoing war in the region.
"Egypt gives its full and unshakable support for its Arab brothers and reiterates its call to reduce the and resorting to the language of dialogue and rationality," said Mr El Sisi, Egypt's president of 12 years.
He said the war in Iran and the conflict in Gaza before it have forced his government to take "necessary" measures to ensure the availability of basic goods for the nation's 108 million people.
The government last week hiked domestic energy prices by up to 30 per cent, causing a chain reaction that saw a significant rise in food and transport costs for the overwhelming majority of Egyptians already struggling to make ends meet.
"The state fully realizes the magnitude of [economic] pressure Egyptian citizens are subjected to at this stage and I know that there are negative sentiments over the recent rise in fuel prices," he said.
"We, as a state, don't take any measures unless carefully studied and in the knowledge that the choice is the least costly one for citizens."
