Tehran Seeks Rapprochement with Cairo Through Investments

 Iraqi President Barham Saleh (C), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) and Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi (R) receive Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi (C-R), and Jordan's King Abdullah II (C-L), in the capital Baghdad, Iraq, June 27, 2021. (AFP Photo)
Iraqi President Barham Saleh (C), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) and Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi (R) receive Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi (C-R), and Jordan's King Abdullah II (C-L), in the capital Baghdad, Iraq, June 27, 2021. (AFP Photo)
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Tehran Seeks Rapprochement with Cairo Through Investments

 Iraqi President Barham Saleh (C), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) and Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi (R) receive Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi (C-R), and Jordan's King Abdullah II (C-L), in the capital Baghdad, Iraq, June 27, 2021. (AFP Photo)
Iraqi President Barham Saleh (C), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) and Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi (R) receive Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi (C-R), and Jordan's King Abdullah II (C-L), in the capital Baghdad, Iraq, June 27, 2021. (AFP Photo)

Tehran has reiterated that the road was ready for an understanding with Egypt, in conjunction with similar statements about Iran’s “openness” to relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and “the resumption of negotiations on the nuclear agreement.”

For the third time in one month, Tehran sought to “compliment” Cairo, through statements by Iranian officials, calling for “the resumption of relations between the two capitals,” whether at the political or commercial levels.

In early July, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed that strengthening relations between Tehran and Cairo “will benefit the two countries and peoples.” This was followed by a tweet by Mohammad Hossein Soltanifar, the head of Iran’s Interests Section Office in Cairo, praising what he described as “Egypt’s opposing stance on the project of an American alliance against Iran.”

Soltanifar continued to hint at the improvement of relations between Cairo and Tehran, through an article he published in the Iran Daily newspaper, and reported by the Iranian News Agency on Saturday. He said that the current developments “require raising the bilateral relations between the two countries… to the desired political level.”

Cairo, however, has so far met the repetitive Iranian statements with silence, as no official Egyptian response was made in this regard.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ambassador Hussein Haridy, former assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister, said: “Iran has issued several statements recently indicating a degree of openness to Arab powers, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which gives the impression of the formation of a new phase in the Middle East. At the same time, Iranian statements were issued about Tehran’s response to European efforts to resume negotiations on the nuclear deal.”

Last month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein revealed his country’s hosting of bilateral dialogue between Iran and Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan.

He said: “Iran has proposed the idea of establishing channels of communication with Egypt, and the talks between Riyadh and Tehran will be transformed into an open dialogue.”

Tehran’s recent statements on strengthening relations with Egypt have focused on the investment field.

Soltanifar noted that his country was ready to enter Egypt’s markets, by establishing a factory for the production of local vehicles and holding joint investments in the fields of banking, textiles, marine navigation, and carpets.

The Iranian official stressed that the close and growing relations between Egypt, Iraq and Syria “provide more opportunities for regional cooperation between Iran and Egypt.”

Haridy, in turn, emphasized that nothing would impede the establishment of trade exchange relations between Cairo and Tehran, but added that the current stage “does not allow for talks about investments, economic cooperation and factories.”

“Egypt will not make any step that can be understood as being against the general direction in the Gulf, nor will it allow relations with [Iran] to be a weapon for confrontation with the Gulf States,” he underlined.



Iran Says 5 Inmates at Evin Prison Were Killed in Israel's Airstrike on Tehran

Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
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Iran Says 5 Inmates at Evin Prison Were Killed in Israel's Airstrike on Tehran

Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike on Iran's capital last month killed five inmates at Evin prison and resulted in the escape of several others, Iranian media reported Saturday.

The semi-official ILNA news agency and other Iranian media quoted a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary that the five inmates killed in the June 23 strike had been convicted on financial offences. The spokesman didn't name the victims or give any further details.

The judiciary’s own news website, Mizanonline quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying only that “small number" of inmates were killed. He added that an “insignificant number of inmates” had also escaped and that authorities would soon bring them back into custody, AFP reported.

Jahangir said no one serving time at Evin prison for working with Israel's spy agency Mossad was injured in the attack.

Iranian authorities last month put the death toll from the airstrike at 71. But Iranian media later raised that number to 80 including staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members.

It's unclear why Israel targeted the prison. The Israeli Defense Ministry had said on the day of the airstrikes that 50 aircraft dropped 100 munitions on military targets “based on high-quality and accurate intelligence from the Intelligence Branch.”

The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison - seen as a symbol of repression of any opposition - saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.

The 12-day air war left more than 1,060 dead in Iran and 28 dead in Israel.