Iran to restore diplomatic ties with Bahrain, Egypt
Manama and Cairo are likely to resume diplomatic ties with Tehran soon, said top American and Iranian officials, respectively.
Speaking about the possibility of Bahrain restoring diplomatic ties with Iran, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf told lawmakers, “I think it will happen sometime soon.”
Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016, a day after Saudi Arabia did so. However, Iran and Saudi Arabia announced in March that they would restore diplomatic ties, and Tehran reopened its embassy in Riyadh on June 6.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Tehran welcomes the restoration of ties with Manama. He added that Bahraini officials have voiced their readiness to resume relations with Iran.
Similarly, Tehran and Cairo have expressed their willingness to restore their diplomatic ties, which were cut in 1980.
A member of the Iranian Parliament stated on Wednesday that Oman has taken up the task of mediating and exchanging messages between the two sides, as discussed during the visits of the Sultan of Oman to Cairo and Tehran.
Fada Hossein Maleki noted that a Tehran-Cairo rapprochement will undergo the same lengthy process as that of Tehran-Riyadh.
He speculated that a meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Egypt is likely to be the first step.