CAIRO – 15 March 2026: During a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed the need to protect Arab national security, namely strengthening the mechanisms of joint Arab action.
Abdelatty also called for activating the Joint Defense Treaty as a fundamental guarantee for preserving the security, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Arab states. The Joint Defense Treaty is an agreement signed by Arab League member states in 1950 in Ale٨xandria. Under the treaty, any aggression or attack against one signatory state is considered an aggression or attack against all other member states.
On March 29, 2015, the Council of the League of Arab States approved Resolution No. 628, based on a proposal put forward by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to establish a joint Arab force aimed at preserving and maintaining Arab national security. According to the resolution, a protocol is to be drafted to define the tasks of these forces. Article 2 stipulates rapid military intervention to confront terrorist challenges and threats that pose a direct threat to Arab national security.
Abdelatty began a regional tour on Sunday, starting from Doha, under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to affirm Egypt’s full support of and solidarity with the Gulf states in the face of the reprehensible and unjustified attacks against them.
The minister delivered a message from President El-Sisi to the Emir of Qatar, expressing Egypt’s full support, as a leadership, government, and people, for Qatar following the repeated Iranian attacks. He also expressed his deep appreciation for the longstanding historical ties that bind the two countries and their brotherly peoples.
The Emir of Qatar expressed his deep appreciation for Egypt’s principled and unwavering stance in supporting Qatar, and commended the pivotal role played by Cairo in maintaining regional stability and defending Arab national security.
During the meeting, the Egyptian foreign minister reaffirmed Egypt’s firm rejection and complete condemnation of the attacks carried out by Iran against Qatar, which aim to undermine its sovereignty, national security, and the well-being of its people.
He stressed that no pretexts, justifications, or excuses can be accepted for these blatant attacks, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the principles of the United Nations Charter. He emphasized that the security of Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states is an integral part of Egyptian and Arab national security.
The meeting with the Emir further tackled the dangerous military escalation in the region. The minister underscored the critical importance of de-escalation, ending the war, and prioritizing diplomacy, dialogue, and reason to prevent the conflict from spreading and the region from descending into widespread chaos, emphasizing the futility of military solutions.
Iran, which was attacked by the US and Israel, has launched numerous drone and missile attacks on several Arab countries hosting US military bases in the Middle East over the past two weeks, in retaliation for the ongoing US-Israeli strikes.