Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met CIA director John Ratcliffe on Sunday as part of what sources say are continuing efforts by Egypt to bridge the gap between the US and Iran on the terms for ending their war.
News of the previously unannounced meeting came in an Egyptian presidential statement that quoted the CIA director as saying the US appreciated the “pivotal role played by Egypt in support of efforts to reach peaceful and comprehensive resolutions to the region's crises”.
“The American administration is keen to continue to work and closely co-ordinate with Egypt to achieve security and stability in the Middle East,” Mr Ratcliffe was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, the Egyptian leader told Mr Ratcliffe that Cairo supports “efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement that ends the Iran crisis and contributes to restoring security and stability in the region, as well as the freedom of international maritime shipping.
Mr El Sisi also conveyed to the CIA director Egypt's rejection of attacks on Arab nations, a reference to drone and missile attacks launched by Iran and its regional proxies on their neighbours.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation with the largest armed forces in the region, has been walking a tightrope since the conflict began in February, balancing its close, historical bonds to its Gulf Arab allies and benefactors while maintaining good working relations with Iran.
According to the sources, Egypt is keen to maintain its channels of communication with Tehran to safeguard its credentials as an effective and reliable mediator able to speak with all stakeholders.
Egypt is also a close and reliable US ally whose relations with Washington date back to the late 1970s, and receives $1.3 billion in US military aid every year. It also has close relations with Russia and China.
The sources, who are briefed on Egypt's deliberations with stakeholders in the Iran war, said Cairo was in close and regular contact with Washington, Tehran and Arab nations attacked by Iran to find a basis for a compromise that ends the war and turns a new page in Arab-Iranian ties.
“Egypt is pursuing an end to attacks on Arab nations as well as an understanding under international maritime laws that govern and protect shipping in the Red Sea and through the strait of Bab Al Mandeb,” said one of the sources.
“It's passing on messages between all parties and holding separate talks with them behind closed doors.”
Egypt has a vested interest in ending the war. The steep rise in oil prices from the latest flare-up in the war will probably force its government to hike domestic petrol prices, a move likely to deepen discontent over the handling of the economy.
Disrupting Red Sea shipping, whether through attacks on vessels or closing the Bab Al Mandeb strait, would also hurt Egypt's vital revenue from the Suez Canal, the strategically important waterway linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
Mr El Sisi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Brics summit in New Delhi last week. Their meeting was followed by the latest in a long series of talks between Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
The Egyptian Presidency said Mr El Sisi told the Iranian leader that Cairo was looking to Tehran to make “all possible efforts to stop escalations and reach a comprehensive, peaceful and sustainable settlement to the crisis”.
Mr El Sisi's talks with the CIA director on Sunday come at a critical juncture in the regional conflict. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Saturday they attacked “sensitive” sites in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said its air defences had destroyed a missile fired by the Yemeni group towards Riyadh early on Saturday. The coalition also said Houthi attacks on civilian infrastructure in Bisha, Farasan, Taif and Yanbu were thwarted.
Iran, for its part, refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, another maritime chokepoint through which about one-fifth of the global energy shipments are exported. Tehran will not do so until its demands are met and US commitments are implemented, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday.
Iran must both fight and negotiate, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mr Ghalibaf as saying.
