Minister: Egypt Willing to Import Iranian Oil

Egyptian Oil Minister Osama Kamal announced his country’s readiness to start crude imports from Iran despite the western sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Speaking in an interview with the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, Kamal said Egypt “is not against importing crude from Iran and refining Iranian oil”.

The minister said he believed that President Mohammad Mursi’s recent visit to Iran would open doors for economic cooperation between the two countries.

Mursi visited Iran on Thursday to attend the heads-of-state summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The 16th NAM summit was held in the Iranian capital from August 26 to 31.

In relevant remarks last week, an Egyptian spokesman also said the visit by President Mursi to Iran indicates change in the country’s foreign policy.

Spokesman of Egypt’s Presidential Office Yasser Ali said that Mursi’s visits to countries such as Iran, China and the US show change in Egypt’s foreign policy.

“Egyptian foreign policy will be different from the policies under (toppled president) Hosni Mubarak,” he stated, adding, “Egypt’s foreign policy will be adopted based on the principles of the January 25 (2011) revolution.”

Mursi’s visit was the first by an Egyptian head of state to Tehran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.