As part of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's Middle East tour, the US official landed in Egypt after having visited Jordan and made an unannounced visit to Iraq.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed that the two countries continue to maintain strong military ties, according to a statement issued by the presidential office.

According to the Presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy, the Egyptian President highlighted "Egypt's eagerness to strengthen its strategic partnership with the United States," notably in military and security cooperation.

Ahead of his meeting with El-Sisi, the Pentagon chief, in a Twitter post, called the US-Egyptian military cooperation "an essential pillar" of the US "commitment to this region."

Fahmi stated that Austin hailed Cairo's role as "a responsible stabilizing force" in the region and reaffirmed that "defense cooperation is the main pillar of relations between the two countries."

Earlier, on Tuesday, Austin made a surprise visit to Baghdad as part of a Middle East tour, which started in Jordan, and will end in "Israel". 

This visit comes before the twentieth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, with Austin being the last commander-in-chief of US forces in Iraq.

The US official's visit to Baghdad was also preceded by an unannounced visit from US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, to "Israel" first then to the US-occupied Al-Tanf Base in northeastern Syria.

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