MP: Iraq Hosting Iran-Egypt Rapprochement Talks

Date: 14 May 2023 - 22:36

News ID: ۱۱۵۰۷۱

TEHRAN -- Iraq is hosting negotiations between Iran and Egypt to resume full diplomatic relations, with preparations underway for a meeting between Presidents Ebrahim Raisi and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an Iranian lawmaker says.
“Negotiations between Iran and Egypt are ongoing in Iraq, and we will witness the re-establishment of Iranian-Egyptian relations in the near future. We anticipate the opening of embassies between the two countries, and following this step, preparations will be made for a meeting between the Iranian President and the Egyptian President,” Fadahussein Maleki, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said.
Maleki emphasized that “rebuilding relations between Iran and Egypt is of utmost importance because Egypt is one of the oldest and most civilized countries in the region and the world. Therefore, Egypt holds great significance and is highly valued compared to other nations.”
The negotiations come following Iran’s broader push to re-establish relations with Arab states, most notably Saudi Arabia.
Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a deal brokered in Beijing by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in March of this year to resume relations after decades of hostility.
Only three days after announcing a deal to re-establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran stated it wanted to improve ties with Egypt, Abu Dhabi-based daily the National reported.

“Egypt is an important country in the region, and what the region needs is synergy between Iran and Egypt, and we believe in taking new steps to improve our relations,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

Though lacking Saudi Arabia’s vast energy resources, Egypt is nevertheless a regional power. Cairo’s 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar Mosque is considered the world’s primary seat of Sunni Islamic learning. Egypt is also the most populous Arab state, with a population of more than 100 million people.

Relations between Iran and Egypt have been poor since the shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and fled to Egypt, where he was granted asylum by then-President Anwar Sadat.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed in 1980, but partially resumed 11 years later under Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the chargé d’affaires rather than embassy level.

Relations improved following the election of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi in 2012, which saw mutual visits at the presidential level. However, Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was deposed in a Saudi-backed coup by then-General Sisi in 2013, who later became president.

Relations between Iran and Egypt, therefore, remained contingent upon Iran-Saudi relations.