Sisi Attends Armed Forces’ Annual Iftar, Warns of Regional Conflict Repercussions

​President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attended, on Sunday, the annual Iftar organized by the Armed Forces to commemorate the victories of the 10th of Ramadan. 

The event was attended by Counselor Hisham Badawi, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Counselor Essam Farid, President of the Senate; Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister; Lieutenant General Ashraf Salem Zaher, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production; and Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. 

Also in attendance were Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, alongside various ministers, governors, senior military and police commanders, high-ranking state officials, veteran commanders, and students from the Egyptian Military Academy.

​Regarding the current regional crisis, Sisi said, "The topic of the hour is the current crisis and the war in the region. Over the past months, Egypt has made sincere efforts to avert this crisis by bridging viewpoints and mediating between the United States and Iran to reach an agreement. Wars always have a negative impact on the countries involved and their neighbors, especially with the advancement of modern warfare. Our efforts were sincere and enlightened, as miscalculations result in negative repercussions for nations, affecting the regional balance significantly—not only from a humanitarian perspective but across various dimensions."

"I believe there must be great caution regarding the potential fallout of war on nations and its impact on regional stability. In just two days, there have been massive and rapid developments; in Egypt, we were keen to emphasize the importance of non-escalation, achieving calm, and even stopping the war, though I doubt that will be achieved," he continued.

​President Sisi added that Egypt is part of the region and is affected by its events, saying: "I have spoken with our brothers in the Gulf and relevant Arab countries to reaffirm our rejection of aggression against states, and I emphasized our support for our brothers, standing by them in the face of crises."

​The President continued, "We are wary of the war's outcomes, such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the impact on the Suez Canal. We have been affected since October 7th; maritime traffic in the Suez Canal has not returned to its normal course, and we have incurred financial losses. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz will affect oil flows and prices." 

"The Egyptian state and government must study all possibilities and various scenarios. To the domestic front, I say: do not worry, praise be to God. We were keen to secure the necessary reserves, and I reassure you; however, we do not know how long the crisis will last. We were keen to overcome the economic crisis of the past two years and its effects, but the economic crisis facing the world and the region will have an impact. We hope, and would be pleased, for the crisis to end as soon as possible," Sisi added.