Questions continue to circulate among Egyptians over who was behind the drone attack on Damietta Port in northern Egypt on 29th July. The identity of those responsible remains unknown, as the attack came amid heightened regional tensions stemming from the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Conflicting official accounts, coupled with pro-government media reports attributing the incident to fires breaking out on two vessels without explaining their cause, fuelled further suspicion. The official announcement on the nature of the attack was delayed by around 16 hours, before the Egyptian Cabinet confirmed that the explosion had been caused by a drone, deepening the controversy and mistrust among Egyptians.

The questions and doubts have been further fuelled by the fact that the attack took place around three weeks after the opening of the Armed Forces’ Strategic Command headquarters, known as the Octagon, in the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attended the ceremony in military uniform, his first public appearance in such attire in around eight years and only his sixth since taking power in 2014.

Was the attack intended to personally embarrass el-Sisi? Was it an attempt to drag Egypt into the war raging across the region? Or was it punishment for Cairo’s support for the Gulf states through military aircraft and capabilities? And who stands to benefit from the attack on gas vessels at Damietta Port?

Scenarios on the table

Nearly two weeks after the attack, which caused no casualties, the Egyptian authorities have remained tight-lipped about the circumstances, citing the need to proceed cautiously and to complete the necessary investigations. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that any discussion of the incident should be based on specific information and conclusive evidence.

Damietta Port is one of Egypt’s most important commercial ports in the eastern Mediterranean and a major hub for maritime trade and the handling of containers and cargo. The targeting of the US-owned LNG facility Energos Winter at the port further underscores its strategic importance, making it a potential target for anyone seeking to harm US interests in the region.

Speaking to CNN, H A Hellyer, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in Britain, said the attack could have been an Iranian message, delivered through one of Tehran’s allied militias, demonstrating its ability to expand the conflict beyond the current theatre of operations.

Observers told Middle East Monitor that targeting Cairo for the first time in the ongoing........

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