Yemen's Houthi Forces: Egypt's Authorization of Military Support for Saudi Arabia Equals "Declaration of War"

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 27 - A senior leader of the Yemeni Houthi armed group stated on the 27th that the Egyptian parliament's authorization for the Egyptian president to take measures to support Saudi Arabia is equivalent to "declaring war on Yemen."

According to AFP, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Turkish National Intelligence Organization Chief Hakan Fidan, and Pakistani Army Chief General Munir met the day before in Tehran, the capital of Iran, to discuss easing regional tensions. Houthi Political Bureau member Mohammed Ali al-Houthi subsequently issued a statement on the social media platform Telegram in response, stating that the remarks regarding Egypt were part of this statement.

In the statement, al-Houthi said that when representatives from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan went to Iran to discuss "regional security," "Egypt and its parliament announced support for the so-called defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and doing so is equivalent to declaring war on the Republic of Yemen."

The aforementioned representatives from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan met on the 26th with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei. According to a statement released by the Iranian president's office, Raisi stated during the meeting that Iran supports any consensus that helps promote unity, cooperation, security, and development in the West Asia region, emphasizing the necessity of strengthening unity and cooperation among Islamic countries.

On the same day, the Egyptian parliament issued a statement saying that based on a decision made by the Egyptian Defense Council on the 18th, it authorized President Sisi to take necessary measures to support Saudi Arabia in defending against any external attacks and to maintain the sovereignty and security of religious sites in Saudi Arabia. According to Reuters, this move could allow Egypt to "more directly intervene in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi armed group."

The three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement in August, which stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three. The Houthi armed group has repeatedly attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and energy facilities in Saudi Arabia this month. So far, Turkey and Pakistan have not announced any military strikes against the Houthi armed group. (Bao Xuelin)