Egypt's El Sisi orders new emergency agency to build up strategic reserves

Show caption: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has warned military e…

President's order comes amid rising tension in region and follows Cairo's declared plan to defend Saudi Arabia

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ordered a newly created agency led by an army general to examine the creation of strategic reserves to help the country deal with emergencies.

Mr El Sisi's order to Gen Mohammed Abdel Rahman Rabia, the armed forces' Chief of Staff and head of the National Authority for the Management of Crises and Emergencies, comes amid growing fears of a resumption of all-out hostilities between Iran and the US that could disrupt supply chains.

A presidential statement late on Saturday said the Egyptian leader wanted the authority to “study the creation of strategic reserves for the state to counter emergency situations in co-ordination with the country's institutions”.

Last week, Mr El Sisi warned military escalation would have “disastrous” consequences for the region and the entire world. He urged all stakeholders to reach a diplomatic solution “before it's too late”.

Egypt has been largely spared the hostilities that have swept the Middle East since the Iran war broke out on February 28, after which Iran started attacking its Arab neighbours with missiles and drones.

A drone strike, however, set ablaze a gas tanker docked at the Mediterranean port of Damietta in July. No one claimed responsibility for the attack and Egypt did not publicly name the culprit.

The El Sisi government last month announced plans to deploy troops in Saudi Arabia to defend its ally and benefactor against attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis. Parliament has voted in favour of the deployment but neither Cairo nor Riyadh has since confirmed whether Egyptian troops have arrived in the kingdom.

Security sources told The National last week that Egypt's armed forces had been placed on high alert, with air defence systems beefed up along the country's vulnerable Red Sea coastline and at the Suez Canal in anticipation of a possible spillover from renewed hostilities.

The most populous Arab nation, with 110 million people, has been closely monitoring its strategic reserves of basic food items, primarily wheat flour, amid concerns that major hostilities in the Red Sea could disrupt supply chains, the sources said.

The government announced last month that the country had sufficient reserves of essential food items to last six months. Around the same time, state importer Future of Egypt bought five cargoes of wheat, marking one of its largest purchases in six months.

Updated:

November 08, 2026, 8:15 AM