Egypt, along with a host of other countries, is engaged in quiet diplomacy to bridge the gap between the US and Iran as the war enters its fourth week.
Sources told the US news outlet Axios that Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey had passed messages between the US and Iran on Sunday, and that US President Donald Trump announced that he was postponing any strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days, citing what he said were “productive conversations” with Tehran to end the war.
Axios said senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. It added that “mediation is going and making progress, and discussions are focused on ending the war and settling all outstanding issues.”
On 24 March, a Foreign Ministry statement said that Egypt has been ramping up contacts with all the concerned parties in recent days to reduce the escalation and end the war. In this context, it said that Egypt welcomed Trump’s statement indicating his intention to halt plans to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure and called on all parties to seize this opportunity to prioritise dialogue and bring the conflict to an end.
There were several Western media reports that Egypt, alongside Turkey and Pakistan, are drafting a proposed 15-point peace agreement aimed at halting hostilities.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty conducted phone conversations with counterparts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Pakistan, Turkey, France, and Cyprus, together with Witkoff, on Tuesday.
The conversations addressed potential negotiations between the US and Iran following Trump’s initiative not to strike Iran’s power plants, as well as mediation efforts by Egypt to advance a diplomatic track.
Meanwhile, Egypt is counting on Arab cooperation to contain any escalation of the Iran war, calling for enhanced coordination to consolidate the concept of “collective Arab security” and stressing the need to formulate “comprehensive regional arrangements” for the post-war period.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tamim Khallaf said Egypt is likely to raise the issue of the new regional arrangements and collective Arab security at the Arab League’s ministerial meeting scheduled for 29 March.
“There is an Egyptian priority to develop a comprehensive vision for those arrangements for the post-Iran war period,” said Khallaf, noting that “the visits and diplomatic contacts that Cairo has recently made with the Gulf states are essentially aimed at strengthening the concept of collective Arab action.”
President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has recently paid visits to four Arab Gulf countries, starting with the UAE and Qatar and followed by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Al-Sisi’s Gulf visits came after a similar tour by Abdelatty, which included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, and Jordan and was intended to show solidarity with these countries and express Egypt’s firm rejection of Iran’s aggression.
Khallaf said that during the visits President Al-Sisi affirmed the necessity to consolidate collective Arab security.
He referred to an Egyptian proposal for a NATO-style force that dates back to 2015, when President Al-Sisi brought it to the table for the first time during an Arab League summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Al-Sisi made the same proposal again in September 2025 at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha, held in response to Israeli attacks on Qatar earlier in the same month.
According to Khallaf, Al-Sisi’s visits expressed “Egypt’s support for the Arab Gulf countries in word and deed during the difficult circumstances they are going through as a result of the Iran war. They were also aimed to gain traction for Egypt’s policy based on ending the war as soon as possible in favour of diplomacy because of the harmful effects and repercussions it has on the economic and security levels.”
Khallaf noted that President Al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah were the only two Arab leaders to pay visits to the Gulf countries.
Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and a former assistant foreign minister, said Al-Sisi’s visits aimed to send a message of solidarity and support for the Arab Gulf states and also to ward off any attempts to sow discord between Egypt and the Gulf.
They also aimed to create opportunities to discuss proposals to strengthen the mechanisms of joint Arab action, including the possibility of forming a joint Arab force, according to Hassan.
Al-Ahram political analyst Hassan Abu Taleb said that some had tried to exploit the Iran war to accuse Egypt of not doing enough to help the Arab Gulf countries in their time of need.
“Some have even claimed that Egypt was not one of the earliest countries to denounce the Iranian attacks against the Gulf on 28 February and that it should have taken a firmer stance in the face of Iranian attacks,” he said.
Abu Taleb argued that there might be a kind of a gap between the Egyptian and Gulf positions towards the Iranian attacks on the Gulf countries. “While Egypt prefers calm and diplomacy, the Gulf countries prefer putting pressure on Iran to stop its attacks,” he said.
He noted that not only was Egypt one of the first countries to condemn Iran’s attacks against the Arab countries, but that it also urged the Gulf countries to exercise restraint and not to allow themselves to be dragged into the war.
“A few hours after the attacks, Al-Sisi was the first Arab president to call the Gulf leaders to convey a firm message of solidarity with them,” Abu Taleb said.
Political analyst Abdel-Moneim Said believes that Egypt’s diplomatic moves, including Abdelatty’s tours, carry important political messages that underscore such support and coordination. However, these messages may not have fully reached some Gulf circles, as reflected in certain media platforms hosting voices suggesting that Egypt is not doing enough to assist the Gulf countries or that there is a lack of official Egyptian statements condemning Iran.
“Such claims are inaccurate and misleading,” Said added.
He noted that Egypt had announced its condemnation of Iran’s attacks from the first moment of the crisis through the Foreign Ministry, but the failure to deliver the message had effectively opened the door for some social-media platforms, some of them affiliated with groups such as the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, to spread rumours, exploit any ambiguity, and sow discord.
He said he believes that during the early stages of the war, public opinion in the Gulf may have perceived a gap between Egypt’s actual positions and its media pronouncements. “But now there is daily communication between Egypt and the Arab states, whether through the foreign minister or directly between the president and Arab leaders,” Said told Al‑Masry Al‑Youm newspaper.
Political commentator Mustafa Al-Feki noted that Al-Sisi’s Gulf tour confirms Egypt’s strong condemnation of Iran’s provocative attacks against the Gulf states and carries a clear message that says “we are with you” and that the phrase “a stone’s throw away” is not just words but a true expression of a firm Egyptian commitment to supporting the security and stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, since the security of the Gulf is an integral part of Egypt’s national security.
Al-Feki believes that Al-Sisi’s Gulf tour may represent a prelude to more advanced moves and initiatives, including the possibility of strengthening joint Arab defence, which could open the door for formulating collective mechanisms to protect Arab national security in the face of growing challenges.
“Al-Sisi’s Gulf tour has created an Arab awareness of shared destiny and that the coordination among Arab states is no longer an option, but rather a necessity,” he said.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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