With a clear understanding of where the facts stand on the ground, the Egyptian leader noted that the US president was the only party capable of bringing this war to an immediate end. “No one but President Trump could halt this war,” Al-Sisi said at the opening of a conference on energy, one of the vital sectors severely impacted by the war.
Al-Sisi’s appeal came at a critical moment in the ongoing war, with expectations ranging from a possible de-escalation in the case of the success of diplomatic efforts led by Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to a massive surge in the military confrontation with far more catastrophic consequences for the region and the world. Building on the five-decade strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States as well as the personal connection that has developed between the two leaders over nearly 10 years, there is no more credible US partner to make this appeal to the US president. The two leaders had already worked closely together to conclude the Sharm El-Sheikh declaration that backed Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israeli war on Gaza, and there is certainly a chance to make use of the same model to end the present war. The Egyptian president reminded Trump of how he built his reputation during his election campaigns as a “peace maker” and someone who wanted to use his influential office to end war all over the world.
In his remarks on Monday, Al-Sisi rightly noted that the consequences of this ongoing war have already been biting nearly all world economies. Even more worrying is that the worst is yet to come. He pointed out that the broad damage inflicted on the energy production sectors in nearly all key Arab Gulf countries, including oil and gas fields as well as refineries, and the continued closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas pass, will certainly have long term effects. When oil and gas facilities in the Gulf nations go up in flames following Iranian attacks, which Egypt firmly condemns, this causes an immediate shortage in oil, sharply raising prices. More seriously, however, such damages will take years to fix, meaning that the world’s oil and gas markets could remain unstable for many years, impacting emerging and fragile economies that have already been suffering over the past five years. President Al-Sisi made it clear he was not trying to point fingers at any particular parties in this war, but stating its harsh repercussions on the region and the world. The current crisis is disrupting supply chains that provide other vital products coming out of the Gulf, topped with fertiliser.
Hardly one day before President Al-Sisi made his remarks, the Brussels-based research centre, the International Crisis Group (ICG), said that the US-Israeli war on Iran has not only sharply curtailed energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz but also threatened roughly one third of the global fertiliser trade. “The impact will be felt around the world, but the pain will be especially acute for small farmers in poor countries, for whom fertiliser represents a large chunk of production costs. They will likely react by planting less, creating yet more scarcity in places that have already seen too much of it, like war-ravaged Sudan,” the ICG said. It went so far as to issue an appeal to prominent individuals worldwide to launch an initiative modelled on the 2022 Black Sea grain deal that followed the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 to ease the transit of food, fertiliser and related intermediate materials through the Strait of Hormuz. The ICG explained those calling for this initiative were not entering into the complexities of the conflict or how it should be resolved, but simply seeking to ease the expected effects of this conflict on poor and emerging markets worldwide in case the parties involved in the war continued fighting.
But this war need not go on for long enough to require special arrangements allowing the exceptional passage of certain inseparable goods such as fertiliser through the Strait of Hormuz. This war must stop now, and there is an opportunity for that to happen if both Iran and the United States help in reaching a ceasefire through the regional mediation efforts in which Egypt is a key partner. The obvious reality which nearly all observers can see after five weeks of war is that the chances for matters growing worse are always greater than those of settling the conflict. There is no doubt that the US president can actually carry out his nearly daily threats to “obliterate” Iran’s energy sector, power infrastructure and water desalination stations, and not just deploy a few thousand US marine and infantry troops to occupy key Iranian islands overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, or even to carry out a Super Hero-style operation to seize Iran’s reported stock of highly enriched uranium stored deep underground following massive US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities eight months ago. Yet an equally important question, judging by the developments of the war since 28 February and the failure of the initial US-Israeli plan to topple the Iranian regime, must be evaluating the Iranian reaction in case Trump carries out his threats, and how much further damage they could cause to the oil and gas fields in the Gulf region, as well as water desalination stations indispensable for millions of people living there.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an interest in keeping this war going on for the longest period possible, believing this will not only further weaken Iran’s military capabilities, but also help him win the upcoming elections and overcome the humiliating defeat of the 7 October, 2023 attacks by Hamas. But the US and the world should not be held hostage to Netanyahu’s interests, his illusions, and what one Chinese diplomat described as his “war addiction”. The interests of the whole region and the world are at stake, and many world economies are struggling to meet the most basic needs of their peoples. Lebanon is also being destroyed and Israel is threatening to occupy the whole southern part of the country in order to push the Lebanese into civil war. Those are not consequences that can be resolved overnight even if this unnecessary war ends. Yet an immediate ceasefire would be the crucial starting point.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 2 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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