Iran and Egypt intend to restore diplomatic ties after 44 years
Relations between the two countries were severed in 1979.
Tehran and Cairo hope to restore diplomatic relations after more than 40 years of strained relations, Iranian media reported.
"The negotiations conducted so far have been promising. Both countries are on a good path to resolve their differences and plan to open a new diplomatic chapter soon. The restoration of relations will benefit not only the two countries, but the entire Islamic world, especially the Palestinians against the background of the current conflict in Gaza ," said Nasir Kanani, the spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In turn, the official representative of the Egyptian MFA, Ahmed Abu Zaid, informed that the country's foreign minister, Samikh Shukri, called his Iranian counterpart, and during the conversation, the discussion of the situation in Gaza and bilateral issues continued.
Strong ties between the two countries were severed in 1980, shortly after the Islamic Revolution in Iran won Egypt's recognition of Israel. Thus, Egypt became the only Arab country without an embassy in Iran. Egypt's signing of the Camp David Agreement with Israel in 1979, Egypt's support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the glorification and heroism of Khalid Islambouli, the assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Iran, Egypt's relations with the United States and most Western European countries. close relations are the main reasons for the differences between the two countries.
Since 2007, relations between Iran and Egypt have seen some warming, mainly due to trade and diplomatic efforts. In 2008-2009, when Israel conducted a military operation in the Gaza Strip, Iranian and Egyptian politicians were accused of inaction due to the escalation of the conflict. In general, relations between Iran and Egypt did not improve significantly until the Egyptian revolution in February 2012, which led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. In April of this year, Iran appointed an ambassador to Egypt. In August, the new president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, visited Iran, and a decision was made to restore bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries. An Egyptian ambassador to Iran has been appointed for the first time in many years. Although the relations between the countries are steadily improving , there are still many unresolved issues, and the future development of relations remains in doubt. A significant part of these problems is related to relations with third countries such as Saudi Arabia and Western countries .
