The expanding conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States is creating significant challenges for Arab nations across the Middle East, forcing them to deal with military threats and economic disruption even as they try to stay out of the wider war.
Countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia are facing direct security challenges with missile interceptions and civilian injuries, while Egypt is experiencing financial strain through currency instability, reduced tourism, and disrupted trade routes.
These nations are working to manage the crisis fallout while attempting to prevent being drawn deeper into the regional confrontation.
Jordan Works to Limit Military Spillover
Jordan finds itself among the nations most directly affected by the conflict’s expansion. Tehran’s retaliatory strikes throughout the region have repeatedly violated the kingdom’s airspace, activating its air defense systems and requiring urgent coordination with international allies.
Government officials report that over 100 missiles and drones entered or threatened Jordanian airspace during the conflict’s opening week, with most being destroyed by defense systems. Falling debris from these interceptions has caused injuries and minor property damage in multiple locations.
Despite the heightened security situation, everyday life within the country has remained relatively normal, with officials working to maintain stability while security forces stay on high alert.
“The most immediate impact has been on aviation and tourism due to temporary airspace restrictions and reduced regional flights. Business activity inside Jordan continues largely as normal,” Mai Anati, the managing editor of The Jordan Times, told The Media Line.
However, regional tensions are creating economic ripple effects. In a nation that imports most of its energy, global market fluctuations are quickly felt by consumers.
“However, regional tensions tend to push oil prices higher, which can affect fuel costs and energy imports in a country like Jordan that relies heavily on imported energy,” she said.
Jordan has also become a key transit route as the conflict disrupts regional travel patterns. Foreign citizens looking to exit Israel and surrounding areas are increasingly using Amman as their departure point.
“So far, there are no indications of large-scale population movements into Jordan. Some foreign nationals have used Jordan as a transit point to leave the region through Amman,” Anati said. She noted that Jordan’s Foreign Ministry has also been assisting Jordanians in the Gulf with overland returns through embassy coordination.
“Daily life in major cities such as Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa continues largely as usual, with normal activity in schools, workplaces, and markets,” Anati said, explaining that authorities have implemented precautionary coordination and security measures while working to maintain normal daily routines.
Behind the scenes, Jordan’s security forces have elevated their readiness level to handle potential spillover incidents.
“Jordan has activated early warning systems and precautionary civil protection measures,” she explained. “Security institutions and civil defense remain on high alert, and authorities have issued public guidance on safety procedures to ensure rapid response in case of emergencies.”
To date, the direct impact within Jordan has remained contained.
“The impact inside Jordan has so far been limited,” Anati said, citing minor injuries from falling debris and minor property damage in several locations.
Nevertheless, the volume of intercepted threats demonstrates the kingdom’s vulnerability to the regional escalation.
“According to a statement by the Jordanian Armed Forces, since the beginning of the regional conflict, Iran has targeted Jordanian territory with 119 missiles and drones that were heading toward vital sites in the kingdom. Air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 108 of those missiles and drones,” she noted.
Despite these incidents, Jordan’s strategic approach has remained unchanged: protect national sovereignty while avoiding deeper participation in the conflict.
“Jordan is primarily focused on defending its sovereignty and protecting its airspace while continuing to call for regional de-escalation and diplomatic solutions,” Anati said.
“The kingdom’s position is clear: Jordan will not become a battlefield for any regional conflict,” she concluded.
Saudi Arabia Balances Defense and Caution
To the south, Saudi Arabia has also been forced to navigate the regional confrontation’s consequences. Iranian missile and drone strikes targeting strategic facilities across the Gulf have elevated the kingdom’s security stance and activated its air defense networks.
Multiple projectiles from Iran were intercepted above Saudi territory, including threats directed at crucial locations such as the Ras Tanura energy facility, the US Embassy in Riyadh, Prince Sultan Air Base, and Riyadh airport. While interceptions prevented major damage in most instances, falling debris in civilian areas resulted in two casualties, demonstrating the vulnerability of even well-protected infrastructure.
Riyadh’s official stance has stressed deterrence while maintaining a clear desire to avoid a broader regional war.
“Saudi Arabia’s official position has consistently emphasized the importance of protecting its sovereignty while avoiding escalation that could further destabilize the region,” Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi political analyst, told The Media Line. He said the kingdom has denounced attacks threatening its territory or security as violations of international law that undermine regional stability.
The implications for Saudi Arabia extend well beyond the immediate military aspects of the conflict. Gulf instability carries economic consequences far beyond the region, given Saudi Arabia’s position as one of the world’s largest energy producers and a central hub in global trade networks.
“From Riyadh’s perspective, the broader concern is not only the immediate security dimension but also the wider regional risks. Any escalation in the Gulf could disrupt critical supply chains, including food imports and energy production, both of which are essential not only for Gulf countries but also for global markets,” Alshaabani said.
Safeguarding shipping lanes and energy facilities remains a strategic priority as the kingdom attempts to maintain market confidence and prevent the conflict from expanding.
“The stability of shipping routes, energy infrastructure, and regional trade flows remains a top priority for the kingdom,” he noted.
Saudi Arabia has responded by strengthening air defenses while maintaining diplomatic channels.
“As for a direct response, Saudi policy has generally focused on strengthening defensive capabilities, coordinating with regional and international partners, and pursuing diplomatic channels to prevent further escalation,” Alshaabani said.
“The kingdom has repeatedly indicated that its goal is to safeguard its security and economic stability while avoiding steps that could expand the conflict or endanger the broader region,” he concluded.
Egypt Bears the Economic Impact
Unlike Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which have faced direct security threats, Egypt has experienced the conflict primarily through economic and strategic consequences. Cairo has not been directly attacked by missiles or drones, yet regional instability is already putting pressure on crucial sectors of its economy.
“Egypt’s economic exposure to this conflict is almost entirely indirect—but no less damaging for that,” Samir Ragheb, a retired Egyptian army brigadier general and president of the Arab Foundation for Development and Strategic Studies, told The Media Line.
“The country is being hit through what might be called the ‘anxiety premium’: investor sentiment, shipping insurance rates, flight rerouting decisions, and tourist cancellation patterns all respond to regional instability as a whole, not just to whether Egyptian soil has been struck,” he noted.
Financial markets were among the first sectors to respond.
“The Egyptian pound has come under renewed pressure almost immediately. The currency had only recently stabilized following the IMF-backed reform program and the painful 2024 devaluation. The war reversed that trajectory within days,” Ragheb said. He added that “hot money,” or short-term portfolio inflows, had flowed out just as sharply, with some Egyptian analysts estimating capital flight at more than $2 billion in the opening week alone.
In response, the central bank has used reserves to support the pound. Meanwhile, rising global energy prices are adding strain to an economy already stressed by International Monetary Fund-linked reforms and subsidy reductions.
“The central bank has been spending reserves to defend the pound’s trading band, but that is a finite buffer,” he noted.
For average Egyptians, the effects are likely to appear gradually through rising prices.
“The downstream effect on ordinary Egyptians is real: higher transport costs, higher logistics costs for goods, and a secondary inflation wave that hasn’t yet shown up in official CPI figures but will,” he said.
Trade routes and regional supply networks have also started to adjust as the conflict disrupts established pathways.
“Regional land crossings have also been disrupted. The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, already politically complicated, has seen further constraints,” Ragheb said. He said the Taba crossing has been used mainly for outbound traffic and that trade flows through the Aqaba-Nuweiba ferry route have also slowed.
However, the most significant economic vulnerability remains the Suez Canal.
“The Suez Canal wound is the deepest,” Ragheb said, noting that revenues had already dropped from more than $10 billion annually to about $4 billion by the end of 2025 because of the Houthi campaign in the Red Sea. Hopes that the Gaza ceasefire would restore normal shipping routes in 2026, he said, have now been indefinitely postponed.
Tourism, one of Egypt’s most critical sources of foreign currency, is extremely sensitive to regional instability and has already started to feel the effects.
Ragheb said tourism is not just a revenue source for Egypt but also a political stabilizer. The sector, he said, employs millions, supports key regional economies, and had reached roughly 19 million visitors in 2025.
“The cancellations since the escalation began have been real and measurable. Travel agencies across Europe—Egypt’s main tourism markets are Germany, Russia, Italy, and the UK—reported cancellation spikes within the first 72 hours of the conflict,” he noted.
According to Ragheb, the perception of risk can be almost as important as actual security conditions.
“Many travelers and travel insurers do not distinguish between Egypt being targeted and Egypt being adjacent to a region that is,” he said.
How persistent those economic shocks become will depend largely on the conflict’s duration.
“The critical threshold is duration,” Ragheb said.
“A conflict that ends or de-escalates within four to six weeks likely produces a manageable tourism downturn—perhaps a 15 to 20 percent dip for the season, with recovery possible before peak summer arrivals. A conflict that drags into April and May, or escalates further, would devastate the spring-summer booking cycle,” he noted.
At the security level, Egyptian planners are less worried about direct missile attacks than about indirect destabilizing effects.
“The concern within Egyptian security circles is real but calibrated,” Ragheb said, adding that officials are more worried about secondary effects, including the possibility that Islamic State’s Sinai Province could regain strength.
“That scenario—not Iranian missiles—is what Egyptian security planners lose sleep over,” he said.
Diplomatically, Cairo has attempted to position itself as a mediator while avoiding direct involvement in the conflict.
Ragheb said, “President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has adopted the most activist diplomatic posture he has taken on any regional crisis in years—and that itself is significant.”
“President el-Sisi personally stated that Egypt had spent months attempting to prevent the war by bridging US and Iranian positions. That is not a routine diplomatic formulation—it is a political claim of effort and legitimacy that positions Egypt as a good-faith broker with channels to both sides,” he concluded.
Throughout the region, Jordan is protecting its airspace, Saudi Arabia is securing critical infrastructure, and Egypt is preparing for deeper economic pressure as neighboring governments attempt to contain an expanding conflict.
