Washington (CNN) With instability rising in the Middle East, President Barack Obama told Egypt's leader Tuesday that he was ending a freeze on weapons shipments to the longtime U.S. ally, a moratorium on material support that began after a bloody military-backed coup there in 2013.

Obama told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a phone call that he was lifting the holds on delivering F-16 fighter planes, Harpoon missiles and tank kits, and said he would ask Congress to continue an annual $1.3 billion in military assistance to Egypt.

The White House said the decision to resume the shipments of weapons was made in the interest of U.S. national security, though officials insist the timing isn't related to the deteriorating security situation in Yemen -- once a key U.S. ally in fighting terrorists whose government has collapsed amid advances by Iran-backed rebels.

Egypt has backed Saudi Arabia's attack on the rebels, which threatens to turn the conflict into a wider regional war.

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