Egyptian Minister Hopes for Immediate Resumption of Ties with Iran

Egyptian Minster of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim Ali underscored the abundant cultural and civilization commonalities between Tehran and Egypt, and expressed the hope that relations between the two Muslim states would be resumed in the near future.

“God willing the relations (between Iran and Egypt) will be resumed soon,” Ibrahim Ali told FNA on Tuesday.

He referred to the tourism potentials and cultural commonalities of Iran and Egypt, and invited Iranian tourists to visit his country’s ancient and historical places.

“There had been tight relations between the Iranian and Egyptian civilizations in ancient times,” Ibrahim Ali underlined, adding that the two countries should revive their age-old ties.

After the collapse of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the Iranian and Egyptian officials voiced their interest in the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi officially invited the then Egyptian counterpart Nabil Al-Arabi to pay a visit to Tehran.

Later, the Iranian foreign minister and his former Egyptian counterpart also held a meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Also, during the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran late August, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Egyptian counterpart conferred on ways to promote the bilateral relations between Tehran and Cairo, and stressed the need for continued consultations in this regard.

In a latest development, Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi in a meeting with Salehi in Cairo earlier this month said that Iran plays an important role in resolving the regional crises, and underlined that Tehran and Cairo should be united in dealing with global challenges.

“When the followers of unrighteousness are united in their unrighteous path, why should not we go united in our right position when dealing with global challenges,” Mursi said.

Stressing that Egypt assumes Iran’s stability as its own stability, he said, “There is no problem between Iran and Egypt.”

The Egyptian president also underscored the important role of Iran’s assistance to the settlement of problems in the region, and announced Cairo’s readiness for any kind of regional cooperation with Tehran.