Restoration of Iran-Egypt ties closer than it looks
Tehran and Cairo appear to have overcome some differences as they have begun talks to restore diplomatic relations.
The talks are hosted by Iraq, as confirmed by a senior Iranian lawmaker on Sunday.
Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament, said Sunday that talks between the two countries are going well.
He then said that if the current trend of developments continues, the embassies of Iran and Egypt would reopen soon.
“The next step would be preparing the ground for the presidents of the two countries to meet, but that won’t happen unless the embassies reopen,” Maleki highlighted.
In this regard, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told IRNA on Sunday that “direct channels of communication between Tehran and Cairo are open”.
However, the chief Iranian diplomat said, some regional countries have expressed their readiness to “help” Tehran and Cairo bring their views closer.
“We have always welcomed the development of relations between Tehran and Cairo. The diplomats in Tehran and Cairo have had good meetings. There is a good level of access to the officials of both countries,” Amir-Abdollahian opined.
The foreign minister then expressed hope that there would be an expansion of ties between Tehran and Cairo soon as President Ebrahim Raeisi’s administration welcomes building excellent relations with the regional countries.
“We prioritize restoring (diplomatic) relations with Egypt,” Iran’s top diplomat highlighted.
On May 8, Iraqi sources told The National news website that Egypt and Iran have been holding talks in Iraq’s capital Baghdad since March to discuss normalizing relations.
The latest round of discussions began at the weekend, Egyptian officials said, although it is not clear how much progress has been made so far.
An Iraqi diplomat told The National that two rounds of low-level talks were held between Egyptian and Iranian officials in Baghdad in March and April this year.
“Both sides have welcomed Iraq’s efforts to mediate,” said the diplomat.
“Both sides are putting out feelers and they are willing to move forward. There has been no headway until now.”