A high-ranking Iranian official sent a signal that Tehran wishes to “resume relations with Egypt”, nearly a month after the foreign ministers of the two countries held a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that progress in relations between Cairo and Tehran was in the region’s interest.
While the Egyptian Foreign Ministry did not comment on the Iranian statement, a well-informed source reported that Cairo “continues to receive undeclared messages from Tehran regarding its desire to resume relations” with Egypt.
“Unmediated contacts have taken place between Egyptian and Iranian experts during the past two months,” the Egyptian source told Asharq Al-Awsat, while stressing that such talks were not political.
“The talks were exploratory and coincided with the negotiations taking place between Cairo and Ankara,” he added.
Khatibzadeh’s statements come two days after the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for the Middle East and North Africa, Mir-Massoud Hosseinian, announced that his country was “working to improve relations with Egypt” and that solving the problems between Iran and Saudi Arabia might have an impact on this issue.
Cairo has constantly called on the Iranian authorities to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries, focusing in particular on “Gulf security.”
Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian met in New York with officials from several Arab countries, including Egypt. He commented that strengthening relations with neighbors was a “top government priority.”
