America just waived human rights rules to keep paying Egypt
1 hour ago · 2 October 2026Share
An Egyptian OT-62B armored personnel carrier comes ashore from utility landing craft during an amphibious assault in support of Exercise Bright Star '85. File photo.PH3 Fox · Public domain
America just let Egypt off the hook on human rights.
The US State Department has waived human rights conditions on $320 million of military aid to Egypt. And the memo explaining why points straight at the war with Iran.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, signed it.
So what does that actually mean? Egypt gets $1.3 billion a year from America in military financing. Congress put conditions on part of that money, tied to Egypt's human rights record. Rubio just waived them.
A letter telling Congress about this is dated September 21. The memo behind the decision is dated September 4, and it carries Rubio's signature.
And here's the detail that matters. The memo says the waiver matters because of Egypt's part in something called Operation Epic Fury. That's the name the US military gave its campaign against Iran, launched alongside Israel in late February. This memo is the first time that name has shown up publicly, tied to this decision.
Rubio's memo says it straight out: "Exercising this waiver authority is essential for the US-Egypt relationship and US national security priorities, particularly in light of Egypt's helpful role following Operation Epic Fury."
So that's Washington, in writing, saying Egypt did something useful in the Iran war. And that it's worth more than the human rights strings Congress attached to the money.
But here's the thing. Nobody says what the helpful role actually was.
Two people in Washington confirmed to Reuters that the memo is real. Neither the memo nor either wire report explains what Egypt actually contributed.
The rest of this story is for members.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite data showing Eastern Egypt along the Red Sea coast. File photo. Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC · Public domain
This isn't new behaviour from Washington, either. Egypt has been getting about $1.3 billion a year from America since the late 1980s, under the peace treaty it signed with Israel in 1979. Part of that money has always come with human rights strings attached. And every modern administration, Republican or Democrat, has waived them anyway. In 2024, the Biden administration released the full amount for the first time in his presidency, citing Egypt's help during the Gaza war.
It hasn't always gone that way. After Egypt's army removed elected President Mohamed Mursi in 2013, Washington held back hundreds of millions of dollars, plus tanks, helicopters, missiles and fighter jets. That caused real friction between Cairo and Washington. And the Biden administration withheld funds on human rights grounds more than once during its term.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the decision. The spokesperson says the waiver reflects Egypt's importance to US national security interests and the concrete security cooperation Egypt provides. The waiver, they added, recognises the importance of keeping that cooperation going at a time of major regional security challenges.
The State Department says it'll keep raising human rights with Egypt anyway, through the wider relationship, separately from the aid.
Now, here's where the two wire reports disagree.
Reuters says Egypt has actually been less central to ending the Iran war than it's been in Gaza ceasefire talks. The Associated Press says the opposite, calling Egypt a key mediator between the US and Iran in winding down the seven-month conflict. Both wires are reporting on the same memo, on the same day. Neither one explains the gap.
Egypt's own economy has been under pressure from the war too, including rising fuel prices. Egypt's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the waiver.
And there's more sitting underneath this. The State Department's own human rights reporting, from 2024, points to credible reports of torture, arbitrary arrest, child labour and restrictions on free expression in Egypt. Separately, Reuters reports that Egyptian police arrested six journalists this week, from a fact-checking and investigative outlet, accusing them of spreading misinformation for the banned Muslim Brotherhood. The outlet denies it. That arrest report hasn't been independently confirmed anywhere else.
So what's not known? What Egypt actually did to earn the words "helpful role". And whether Washington plans similar waivers for any other security partner that helped in the Iran war. No source says it will.
For now, the money is released. The justification is on paper. And the only new fact Washington has put into the public record is the name of its own war.
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