Egypt’s El-Sisi Calls on Iran to Stop ‘Meddling’ in Arab Affairs

Pictured Above: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (left) meets with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in April 2017. Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith

(JNS.org) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stated Wednesday that Iran must stop “meddling” in the Middle East and undermining the security of Arab states.

“The region has enough instability and challenges as it is. We don’t need any new complications involving Iran or Hezbollah so we don’t add new challenges to the region,” El-Sisi told reporters in the Sinai Peninsula’s Sharm El Sheikh resort town.

“I am against war, we can resolve crises with dialogue,” he said. “Gulf security is a red line and others must stop meddling in our affairs and not work to escalate tensions. We in Egypt believe that Arab and Gulf security and any threat to Gulf nations is a threat to our own national security.”

The Egyptian president’s comments came after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s sudden resignation last Saturday over fear of an Iranian-led assassination plot, and amid domestic and international turbulence in Saudi Arabia.

A missile was fired from Yemen towards the Saudi capital of Riyadh last weekend in what Saudi Arabia’s government described as “an Iranian missile launched by Hezbollah” and a potential “act of war.”

“Conditions in Saudi Arabia are totally stable and I have confidence in the government’s handling of the situation,” El-Sisi said.