A letter addressed to US lawmakers, seen by Reuters, stated that the US State Department exempted military aid to Egypt, worth more than $300 million, from conditions related to human rights in light of the “beneficial role” played by Cairo since the United States launched the war on Iran.
Egypt began receiving significant American support following the signing of the peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has received American military aid amounting to approximately $1.3 billion annually since the late 1980s. Some of this aid is subject to conditions related to human rights and democracy, and can be exempted for reasons related to national security.
Repeated withholding of funds
The withholding of funds, including during the era of former US President Joe Biden, led to tense relations between Cairo and Washington in the past.
A letter dated September 21 and addressed to a number of congressional committees stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “decided to waive the requirement to issue a certificate” regarding foreign military financing to Egypt worth $320 million for the fiscal year 2025.
According to an attached memorandum justifying the decision, this portion of military aid was considered “necessary for counterterrorism, border security, or nonproliferation programs, or otherwise important to the national security interests of the United States.”
The memorandum, dated September 4 and signed by Rubio, said: “The exercise of this waiver authority is essential to the relationship between the United States and Egypt and to American national security priorities, especially in light of the beneficial role that Egypt played following Operation Epic of Rage.” Epic of Rage is the name used by the US military for the war on Iran that Washington launched in conjunction with Israel in late February. The State Department memorandum, whose authenticity was confirmed by two sources in Washington familiar with the letter, did not clarify the nature of what it described as Egypt’s “useful” role.
The war puts pressure on the Egyptian economy
The US State Department's annual decision on military aid to Egypt usually relates to funds allocated in the previous fiscal year, which ends on September 30.
There has been no comment yet from the US State Department or the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The spillover repercussions of the war on Iran have imposed a heavy cost on US security partners, including Egypt, whose economy has been put under pressure by rising fuel prices and other unrest. Hundreds of millions of dollars in cash aid, along with tanks, helicopters, missiles and fighter planes, were withheld after the Egyptian army overthrew Mohamed Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, amid mass protests in 2013.
Under Biden, the United States withheld portions of annual military aid allocations several times due to Egypt's human rights record. In 2024, following the October 7 attack and subsequent war in Gaza, the Biden administration went beyond human rights conditions and granted Egypt the full $1.3 billion aid allocation for the first time during his administration.
Egypt played a pivotal role in the ceasefire negotiations related to military operations in Gaza, including an agreement reached in October 2025, but it was less visible in the mediation regarding the war with Iran.
Human rights groups have long accused Egypt of committing widespread human rights violations under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, including torture and enforced disappearance. This week, Egyptian police arrested six journalists working for the “Mtsadeqesh” media platform specializing in information verification and investigative journalism, accusing them of spreading false information on behalf of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which the platform denied.
