Egypt FM: No Military Solution, Pushes US-Iran Talks — SkimNews
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- Badr Abdelatty said there is 'no military solution' to the Middle East conflict, warning that further violence 'could erupt any time' and would deepen human suffering and instability.
- Egypt is pursuing mediation alongside Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkiye to bring the US and Iran back to negotiations, with Abdelatty citing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed in June (14 points) as a framework for a future settlement.
- Iran put forward a seven-point proposal that the US countered with a counterproposal, and Egypt is encouraging Tehran to respond and move the process forward on sanctions, freedom of navigation, and the nuclear file.
- Egypt has lost US$20 billion in Suez Canal revenue from declining traffic, and is paying US$105+ per barrel of oil against a US$65 budget assumption, straining its current account and inflation.
- Egypt is positioning itself as a logistics hub linking Asia with Africa and the Middle East, citing US$600 billion in infrastructure investment over the past decade and the Suez Canal Economic Zone as manufacturing base.
- Abdelatty called for reform to the global financial system, noting the G24 estimates developing countries pay roughly US$500 billion more for their debt than developed economies and that no mechanism exists for middle-income country debt relief.
Why it matters: Egypt is both an economic victim of the war it didn't start—losing US$20 billion in Suez Canal revenue and absorbing oil at US$105 versus a US$65 budgeted price—and an active diplomatic broker with Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkiye pushing the US-Iran exchange of seven- and counter-proposals toward a settlement. That dual role gives Cairo concrete leverage: its mediation is tied to its demand that any final deal include sanctions relief and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil supply.
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