Egypt, Iran Discuss Gaza Situation, Restoring Ties

The Egyptian and Iranian presidents during their talks in Riyadh on the sidelines of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit. (Egyptian presidency) 
The Egyptian and Iranian presidents during their talks in Riyadh on the sidelines of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit. (Egyptian presidency) 
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Egypt, Iran Discuss Gaza Situation, Restoring Ties

The Egyptian and Iranian presidents during their talks in Riyadh on the sidelines of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit. (Egyptian presidency) 
The Egyptian and Iranian presidents during their talks in Riyadh on the sidelines of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit. (Egyptian presidency) 

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed on Saturday the latest developments pertaining to the Gaza war and the restoration of ties between the two countries.
Raisi congratulated Sisi on his recent re-election and they discussed the developments in Gaza in their first telephone call, according to the Egyptian presidency spokesperson.
They further followed up on outstanding issues between the two countries.
The presidents agreed to take tangible steps for the final resolution of issues between the two countries, added the political deputy of the Iranian President's Office.
Iranian Tasnim news agency quoted the political deputy as saying that the two officials discussed the latest developments in Palestine and stressed the importance of Islamic unity.
This month, Sisi was reelected for a new six-year presidential term.

The two presidents met for the first time in Nov. on the sidelines of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh. Iran and Egypt ended diplomatic relations in 1979. Ties were resumed 11 years later but on the level of the Chargé d'Affairs.
Several meetings were held in the past months between Egyptian and Iranian ministers to discuss the possibility of developing bilateral ties.



Iraq Will Not Be Just a ‘Spectator’ in Syria, Prime Minister Says

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
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Iraq Will Not Be Just a ‘Spectator’ in Syria, Prime Minister Says

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)

Iraq will not act as a mere spectator in Syria where it believes groups and sects are victims of ethnic cleansing, Iraq's prime minister said on Tuesday, according to a readout from his office of a phone call to Türkiye's president.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who discussed the situation in Syria with Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Iraq would exert all efforts to preserve the security of Iraq and Syria, according to the official readout of the call.

"What is happening in Syria today is in the interest of the Zionist entity, which deliberately bombed Syrian army sites in a way that paved the way for terrorist groups to control additional areas in Syria," the Iraqi prime minister's office quoted Sudani as saying.

Factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seized the city of Aleppo last week in their biggest advance in years. Iraq's Shiite-led government has close relations with Iran, which is an ally of Assad, and Iraqi militia fighters have fought on Assad's side in the war.

Two Iraqi security sources and a senior Syrian military source told Reuters on Monday that hundreds of Iraqi Shiite militia fighters had crossed the border late on Sunday to help Assad's army fight the opposition’s advance.

The head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, which includes the major Shiite militia groups aligned with Iran, said no group under its umbrella had entered Syria.

The Syrian opposition fighters have said their advance over the past week met little resistance, in part because the most powerful of Iran's allies, Lebanon's Hezbollah group, had pulled its forces out of Syria to battle Israel in Lebanon.

Israel, which has long struck what it says are Iran-aligned military targets in Syria, has stepped up such strikes over the past 14 months as it battled Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.