عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt, Iran Agree to Continue Consultations on Normalizing Relations

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Banjul (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Banjul (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
TT
TT

Egypt, Iran Agree to Continue Consultations on Normalizing Relations

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Banjul (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Banjul (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, met on Saturday on the sidelines of the 15th annual Islamic Summit Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Banjul, where they discussed bilateral relations and the war in Gaza.

Shoukry and Abdollahian agreed to “continue consultations to address all outstanding topics and issues toward normalizing relations,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The meeting also touched on the Egyptian-Iranian bilateral relations in light of previous meetings between the two ministers and the directives of the leadership of both countries.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, last November on the sidelines of the Arab–Islamic extraordinary summit hosted by Saudi Arabia.

Since then, telephone contacts between the two sides have multiplied, both at the presidential and ministerial levels. They mostly focused on “the situation in the Gaza Strip, and fears of escalation of regional tension,” according to official statements from both sides.

“Developments in the region necessitate meetings between Egypt and Iran to follow up on decisions taken in previous summits, especially with regard to bilateral relations,” Ali el-Hefny, Egypt's former ambassador to China and former deputy foreign minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid, Shoukry and Abdollahian’s meeting on Saturday addressed key issues of the Islamic Summit agenda. “The two ministers agreed on the importance of bolstering unity among Islamic countries amid immense challenges,” the spokesman said.

The ministers also discussed the ongoing war in Gaza. Shoukry was keen to inform his Iranian counterpart of the Egyptian efforts aimed at reaching a truce in the Palestinian enclave that would allow the exchange of hostages and detainees to reach a full and permanent ceasefire.

The two men then stressed their rejection of any ground military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would “put the lives of more than a million Palestinians at imminent danger and would worsen the humanitarian situation in the strip.”

Iran and Egypt ended diplomatic relations in 1979. Ties were resumed 11 years later but on the level of Chargé d'Affaires.

Several meetings were held in the past months between Egyptian and Iranian ministers to discuss the possibility of developing bilateral ties.

Last May, the Iranian President directed the Foreign Ministry to take the necessary measures to enhance relations with Egypt.

On Saturday, Shoukry briefed his Iranian counterpart on the outcome of meetings he held recently on the sidelines the World Economic Forum, and contacts he made with European officials to resolve the crisis in Gaza.

He stressed the urgency of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip while calling for continued entry of urgent humanitarian aid “completely, safely, and without obstacles.”

The Egyptian minister also affirmed the importance of encouraging countries to recognize a Palestinian state, adding that this would contribute to strengthening efforts to establish a Palestinian state based on the two-state solution.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Egyptian Gaza Relief Group Says Israeli Strike on Photographers Was Deliberate

An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
TT
TT

Egyptian Gaza Relief Group Says Israeli Strike on Photographers Was Deliberate

An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)
An aid distribution point in northern Gaza operated by the Egyptian Relief Committee (Egyptian Relief Committee)

The spokesperson for the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, Mohamed Mansour, said Israel deliberately targeted three photojournalists while they were carrying out a humanitarian mission inside the Netzarim camp, an area located about six kilometers away from Israeli army forces.

Mansour told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attack was “a continuation of Israeli pressure on the committee’s work since it began operating, as part of the occupation’s efforts to tighten restrictions on anyone attempting to provide relief work and humanitarian services to the people of Gaza.”

The Israeli army killed three photojournalists on Wednesday who were working as a media team for the Egyptian Relief Committee for Gaza.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the victims were Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat, and Anas Ghneim.

They were carrying out a filming mission using a small drone and cameras to document stages of work at camps that the Egyptian committee is helping to establish.

Mansour stressed that “the targeting of the photographers will only increase the committee’s determination to provide relief services and shelter to the Palestinian people.”

He said the committee would continue its work as usual to be “a genuine support for the people of the Strip, amid extremely complex security conditions.”

Israeli Army Radio reported, citing sources, that Egypt sent an angry message to Israel following the attack in Gaza in which Palestinians working for the Egyptian committee for the reconstruction were killed.

According to the radio report, Egypt expressed its protest that the attack took place outside the boundaries of the so-called yellow line, in an area that does not pose a threat to Israeli forces.

For its part, the Israeli army claimed it had targeted suspects operating a “Hamas-affiliated drone” in central Gaza.

In a statement on Wednesday, the army said: “Following the identification of the drone and due to the threat it posed to the forces, the Israeli army precisely struck the suspects who were operating the drone.”

The army said the details were under review.

Arab World

Israel Launches Wave of Fresh Strikes on Lebanon

Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Israel Launches Wave of Fresh Strikes on Lebanon

Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke and sparks ascend from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Kfour on January 21, 2026. (AFP)

Israel launched fresh strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon after raids earlier Wednesday killed two people, the latest violence despite a year-old ceasefire with the group.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched raids on buildings in several south Lebanon towns including Qanarit and Kfour, after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings to residents identifying sites it intended to strike there.

An AFP photographer was slightly wounded along with two other journalists who were working near the site of a heavy strike in Qanarit.

The Israeli army said it was striking Hezbollah targets in response to the group's "repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings".

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah.

But Israel has criticized the Lebanese army's progress as insufficient and has kept up regular strikes, usually saying it is targeting members of the Iran-backed group or its infrastructure.

Earlier Wednesday, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the town of Zahrani, in the Sidon district, killed one person.

An AFP correspondent saw a charred car on a main road with debris strewn across the area and emergency workers in attendance.

Later, the ministry said another strike targeting a vehicle in the town of Bazuriyeh in the Tyre district killed one person.

Israel said it struck Hezbollah operatives in both areas.

A Lebanese army statement decried the Israeli targeting of "civilian buildings and homes" in a "blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty" and the ceasefire deal.

It also said such attacks "hinder the army's efforts" to complete the disarmament plan.

This month, the army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

Most of Wednesday's strikes were north of the river.

More than 350 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.

The November 2024 truce sought to end more than a year of hostilities, but Israel accuses Hezbollah of rearming, while the group has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Arab World

Syria’s Rifaat Al-Assad, ‘Butcher of Hama’, Dies Aged 88, Say Sources

Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. (AP file)
Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. (AP file)
TT
TT

Syria’s Rifaat Al-Assad, ‘Butcher of Hama’, Dies Aged 88, Say Sources

Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. (AP file)
Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. (AP file)

Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad and dubbed the "Butcher of Hama" for suppressing an uprising in the 1980s, has died aged 88, two sources close to the family said Wednesday.

Once a pillar of the Assad family's dynastic rule, Rifaat "died after suffering from influenza for around a week", one source who worked in Syria's presidential palace for over three decades told AFP.

A second source, an ex-officer of Syria's army in the Assad era, confirmed the death, saying Rifaat had moved to the United Arab Emirates after his nephew's government was toppled by opposition factions in December 2024, without specifying if he died there.

Rifaat's role in a February 1982 massacre as part of a crackdown on an armed revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood earned him the nickname "the Butcher of Hama", referring to the central Syrian city.

His brother Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria at the time, launched the campaign, which government forces carried out under the command of Rifaat, who was the head of the elite "Defense Brigades".

The death toll from 27 days of violence, which took place under a media blackout, has never been formally established, though estimates range from 10,000 to 40,000.

Swiss prosecutors had accused Rifaat of a long list of crimes, including ordering "murders, acts of torture, inhumane treatment and illegal detentions" while an officer in the Syrian army.

He also served as vice president under his brother Hafez but went into exile in 1984 after a failed attempt to overthrow him, moving to Switzerland then France.

He later presented himself as an opponent of his nephew Bashar, who succeeded Hafez in 2000.

In 2021, he returned to Syria from France to escape a four-year prison sentence for money laundering and misappropriation of Syrian public funds.

Two years later, he appeared in a family photo alongside Bashar, the ruler's wife Asma and other relatives.

Shortly after Bashar's ouster, Rifaat crossed into Lebanon and then flew out of Beirut airport, a Lebanese security source said at the time, without specifying his final destination.