Egyptian Minister of Defense and Military Production Mohamed Zaki and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III have reaffirmed their commitment to Egypt-US military-to-military cooperation as a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

On 11 August, the U.S. Secretary of Defense spoke by phone with the Egyptian Minister about the strong defense relationship between the United States and Egypt, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reported.

Secretary Austin thanked Minister Zaki for Egypt’s leadership role in the region and for Egypt’s vital assistance in securing the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza on August 7, 2022.  The leaders discussed other shared security objectives and regional challenges across the Middle East and North Africa.  Secretary Austin also spoke about U.S. concerns including Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Secretary Austin and Minister Zaki reaffirmed their commitment to U.S.-Egypt military-to-military cooperation as a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between both countries.

Mohamed Ahmed Zaki Mohamed (born 29 January 1956) is an Egyptian Colonel General who has been Minister of Defense of Egypt since 14 June 2018. Zaki has previously held the command for the Egyptian Paratroopers from December 2008 to August 2012, he then became the Commander of the Republican Guard Forces until June 2018.

He was sworn in on 14 June 2018, succeeding Sedki Sobhy as the Minister of Defense.