Egyptian Politician Asks for Accelerated Resumption of Ties with Iran

A senior Egyptian politician underlined his country’s enthusiasm for the further development of relations and cooperation with Iran, and said delaying the resumption of full-fledged ties between Tehran and Cairo would be unjustifiable.

“There is no reason to justify the cut relations between Iran and Egypt, specially given the fact that the two countries share common interests,” Mohsen Razi, a senior member of the Freedom and Justice party affiliated to the Egyptian Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) party, told FNA on Sunday.

“Iran is an Islamic country and we should cooperate with it in different fields,” he added.

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, President Mursi in a meeting with Salehi in Cairo on Thursday conferred on bilateral ties as well as the latest regional and international developments.

The issue of Palestine and Syria were among the topics dealt by the two officials.