Iran warns against Egypt entering Yemen war

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said the Yemen war situation would be “more difficult” if Egypt or any other country interfere in it. “Egypt has sufficient experience to avoid entangling itself in such a highly complex conflict,” said Iran’s top diplomat in an interview with Iraqi state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya aired on Tuesday.
“We believe that any foreign presence or interference will only make resolving this issue more difficult,” Araghchi noted.
He added that Egypt has said it “will not enter Yemen or engage in a war against Yemen”.
The decade-plus war between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government reignited in July. Egypt’s parliament on Monday delayed a debate on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia until next week. Sisi had asked lawmakers to approve military support for Saudi Arabia if requested by the kingdom, which has come under near-daily attacks from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Iran has not received a response from Saudi Arabia or Yemen’s Houthis to its offer to help broker talks to end the fighting between them, Araqchi said in the interview. Araqchi offered to help facilitate dialogue as the Iran-aligned Houthis intensified strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
Yemen’s Houthis said they attacked a Saudi position in the city of Aden on Wednesday, with smoke seen rising near the airport, in the third attack in a week on the seat of power of Yemen’s Riyadh-backed government. “Our armed forces were able to target the Saudi enemy’s operations room in the Badr camp in Aden with a ballistic missile,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement. 
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on Wednesday it had intercepted five drones launched towards the kingdom, including in the Medina region home to one of Islam’s holiest cities. 
“Four drones launched towards the kingdom have been intercepted and destroyed,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, adding in a second post that the interceptions took place in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern region as well as Medina.
Yemen’s Houthis said that they have not launched any drones towards the Saudi holy city of Madinah on Wednesday and have not conducted any military operations towards Saudi Arabia either, denying earlier comments from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. 
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Riyadh in a surprise “solidarity” visit, making him the first Western leader to touch down in the kingdom since Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis intensified their attacks this month.
The unannounced trip sends a strong signal to his oil-rich Saudi ally as Riyadh comes under near-daily attack. It was part of a Gulf tour to secure oil and diesel and bring down prices in France, following a weekend of violent protests over soaring living costs.
Faced with criticism of his Gulf tour in France, Macron told reporters he was just “doing his job” in a bid to “ease tensions” over gas prices, one of the causes of social unrest in France. 
On the other hand, a ship was struck on Wednesday by an “unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, a British maritime security agency said.
The tanker, 11 nautical miles (around 20 kilometres) off the town of Bukha, is “now at anchor”, the UKMTO reported.
“All crew are reported as safe. There is no reported environmental impact at this time,” it said.