Well-informed Egyptian sources emphasized Egypt’s adherence to balancing its national interests with its commitments to Gulf security, following Iranian diplomatic statements about Tehran’s rapprochement efforts with Cairo.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt was committed to balance its vision of regional relations and national interests with its core adherence to the security of its Gulf allies and the need to prevent any interference in their internal affairs.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to comment on the remarks of the Iranian Foreign Ministry regarding a “short positive” conversation that took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, on the sidelines of the Baghdad-2 summit in Jordan last month.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, in a press statement on Monday, that the conversation was “positive, and included an interest in continuing the talks,” noting that Sisi and Abdollahian “had bilateral discussions regarding consular issues.”
“The Iraqi government has shown its willingness to help form a dialogue between Iran and Egypt, and we welcome these positive initiatives,” he added.
These statements followed successive signals from Tehran over the past months, reflecting its desire to “start Iranian-Egyptian talks on the security and political levels, which would lead to strengthening relations between Tehran and Cairo,” according to the Iranian foreign minister, in statements reported by the Iranian Mizan news agency, on the sidelines of the second session of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership.
Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Orabi said that Iran “is the one seeking rapprochement with Egypt,” adding that Cairo “has a firm approach” regarding dealing with any regional powers, including Iran and Türkiye, according to a vision that “respects national interests and the requirements of Arab national security.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Orabi stressed that Egypt “does not view with satisfaction” Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of several Arab countries, and realizes that these interventions “harm Arab national security.”
For his part, Dr. Tariq Fahmy, a professor of political science at Cairo University, monitored the escalation of Iran’s “unilateral” talk about its desire to improve its relationship with Egypt.
He noted that the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s statement “is not the first in this regard,” pointing to “mutual security and intelligence contacts.”
Fahmy reaffirmed that Cairo “will not sacrifice its relations with the Gulf in favor of Iran,” and stressed that his country was aware of the dangers of Iran reaching the nuclear threshold (the ability to produce a nuclear bomb) on Arab national security.”
