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Egypt

March 17, 2026

Cairo 5:46 pm

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Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7, 2026.

Analysis

Oil crisis stokes inflation risks for Mideast as Iran war exposes importers

With crude oil briefly nearing $120 per barrel on Monday before giving up gains, the conflict is poised to reignite inflationary pressures around the world, including for vulnerable economies such as Egypt and Turkey.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Qatar gas shock roils Middle East energy risk profile amid Iran war

The disruption to energy transportation through the Strait of Hormuz predictably threatens crude prices, but it's natural gas supplies that are shocking the markets.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP via Getty Images

US-Iran war rattles global stocks as UAE trading set to resume

This handout picture released by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on February 23, 2026, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) welcoming Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (L) upon his arrival for an official visit at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. (Photo by Ahmed NURELDINE / SPA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

UAE-Saudi fracture to test Egypt’s security-economy tradeoff

Cairo has been signaling alignment with Riyadh amid a major rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE — a fracture that also threatens to jolt Egypt’s ties with its single most important foreign investor.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Analysis

Egyptians in for another expensive Ramadan despite recovering economy

An Egyptian vendor fills dates for a customer at a market in Cairo's central Sayyida Zeinab district on Feb. 12, 2026, as Muslims prepare for the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Culture

Harassment on Cairo bus revives debate over women’s rights in Egypt

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

MBZ hosts Sisi as Saudi Arabia and UAE jockey for regional influence

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed welcomes Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 9, 2026.

Arms production to air defense: Inside $350M Egypt-Turkey military pact

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stand with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Feb. 4, 2026.

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Mohammed Magdy

In Berlin, reporting on Egyptian politics

Ayah Aman

In Cairo, reporting on politics and culture

Salwa Samir

In Giza, reporting on politics

Nada Shaker

In Cairo, reporting on culture

A fisherman rows his boat with his family on the river Nile in Cairo October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4C8V2

Walaa Hussein on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Walaa Hussein shares her thoughts on journalism.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attends the closing session of 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu November 27, 2014. A brief meeting between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart appears to have salvaged a summit of South Asian leaders, with all eight countries clinching a last-minute deal to create a regional electricity grid.
REUTERS/Niranjan Shrestha/Pool (NEPAL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4FUCN

Pakistan declines to join Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran alliance

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected, at least for now, Saudi Arabia's entreaties for Pakistani troops to help guard the Saudi border with northern Yemen, controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite forces.

An Egyptian cleric who is a protester, prays as protesters run from tear gas fired by riot police during clashes along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 22, 2011.Egyptians frustrated with military rule battled police in the streets again on Tuesday as the generals scrambled to cope with the cabinet's proffered resignation after bloodshed that has jolted plans for Egypt's first free election in decades. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POL

Ayah Aman on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Ayah Aman shares her thoughts on journalism.

Belly dancer runs for Egyptian parliament seat

Egyptian belly dancer Sama El Masry is an official candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, stirring outrage among conservative Egyptians who find her art offensive.

Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukri speaks during a press conference with his Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts in the early hours of March 6, 2015, on the sidelines of meetings in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, to announce they had reached an agreement on the sharing of Nile waters and Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam. The principles of the use of the eastern Nile Basin and the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be submitted to the heads of the three states for approval. AFP PHOTO / ASHRAF SHAZLY (

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia inch toward resolving Nile dam crisis

During the closed negotiations held in Khartoum, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on a plan to find technical solutions to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Egypt fears threatens its share of the Nile.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.

Chairman of the Masr El Kaweya (Strong Egypt) party, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, speaks during a news conference in Cairo February 4, 2015. The party announced on Wednesday that they will boycott the upcoming long-awaited parliamentary elections. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4O796

Aboul Fotouh: Egyptians will start revolution if dictatorship persists

Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, head of the Strong Egypt Party and former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, shared with Al-Monitor his views about Egypt's current regime.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.

Retired U.S. General John Allen, special envoy for building the coalition against Islamic State, speaks to the media during a news conference at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LEKU

Obama administration: US 'will protect' Syrian rebel forces

John Allen, US special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, suggests a deeper US military commitment in Syria; Turkey’s "precious loneliness"; Egypt closes 27,000 places of worship to counter militancy and extremism; Al-Monitor’s series on Women in the Middle East continues.

Palestinians militants leave after representatives of various Palestinian armed factions held a news conference to condemn the decision of an Egyptian court that banned Hamas' armed wing, in Gaza City February 5, 2015. An Egyptian court last week banned Hamas' armed wing and listed it as a terrorist organization, prompting Hamas to reject Egypt as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, a role it has played for decades.
REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4OC6I

Hamas reacts to potential Egyptian attack

Hamas is discussing steps it could take if Egypt decides to attack the Gaza Strip, as hinted by the Egyptian army, following the country's decision to declare Hamas a terrorist organization.

A group of Egyptian illegal immigrants, who according to authorities will be deported back to Egypt through the border with Tunisia on Wednesday, are seen being held at the Alkarareem immigration centre in the east of Misrata February 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer (LIBYA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTR4Q60O

Egyptian workers endangered in Libya

Poor Egyptian workers in Libya have been threatened and killed by Islamic militias, while Egypt has announced its official support for the Libyan army against the terrorists.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (L) meets with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR2K0M9

Are Turkey, Saudi Arabia working together against Iran?

Analysts fear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being dragged into Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran Sunni bloc.