Egypt has not accredited ambassador to Tehran: Iranian source

An informed source with the Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected media reports about Egypt’s appointment of an accredited ambassador to Iran.

The unnamed source told IRNA on Sunday that reports suggesting Cairo has accredited Egyptian diplomat Sharif Shahin to Tehran were not true.

Certain Arab media earlier reported that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had appointed Shahin, formerly an ambassador to Iraq, as its accredited ambassador to Iran.

Iran severed its diplomatic ties with Egypt after the 1979 Islamic Revolution because the Arab country had signed the Camp David Accords with the Israeli regime and offered asylum to Iran’s deposed monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Bilateral relations, however, have been on the mend following the 2011 Egyptian revolution that resulted in the ouster of the country’s dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

In August 2012, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi visited Iran to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It was the first visit of an Egyptian president to Iran in more than three decades.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also traveled to Egypt in February to attend the 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as the first Iranian head of state to visit the country in 34 years.