Relationship dossier
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Relationship assessment
Substantial political and financial partnership, alongside recurring disagreements over regional policy and the Red Sea islands.
Egypt toward Saudi Arabia
+45Egypt has cooperated with Saudi Arabia on regional security, including limited participation in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. The Egyptian government also agreed to transfer sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, a decision approved by parliament in 2017. Egypt has not always aligned with Saudi positions on regional conflicts.
Saudi Arabia toward Egypt
+45Saudi Arabia provided substantial financial assistance to Egypt after the 2013 change of government and has pursued investment and economic cooperation with Cairo. The Saudi government also pressed for the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir, while differences over Egypt's positions on regional issues have at times strained relations.
Overall relationship
+40The relationship is underpinned by sustained high-level political engagement, Saudi financial support for Egypt, and security cooperation. It has not been uniformly aligned: the island transfer generated domestic and bilateral controversy, and the governments have differed over aspects of regional policy. These features support a substantial but qualified partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have maintained substantial political and financial cooperation, particularly since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became president. Saudi Arabia provided major financial support to Egypt, and the two governments have pursued investment and security cooperation. Their partnership has also included disagreements over regional policy and the transfer of the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
Areas of tension
- The transfer of sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, which generated significant controversy.
- Differences over regional conflicts and the degree of Egyptian alignment with Saudi policy.
- A 2016 interruption of Saudi oil shipments to Egypt amid disagreement over Egypt's position on Syria.
Key developments
Saudi Arabia provided substantial financial assistance to Egypt following the 2013 change of government.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed on the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia; Egypt's parliament approved the agreement in 2017.
Saudi oil shipments to Egypt were suspended amid bilateral disagreements over regional policy and later resumed.
Major uncertainties
- The scale and implementation of announced Saudi investment commitments in Egypt are unclear.
- The extent of Egyptian military participation in Saudi-led regional operations has varied.