President Ahmadinejad upcoming visit to Egypt expands Tehran-Cairo ties

The head of Egypt’s Interest Section in Tehran says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to Cairo will strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Khalid al-Said Ibrahim Amari said on Sunday that Iran’s president would visit Egypt on February 6-7 at the official invitation of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Ahmadinejad will attend the 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Iranian president is also expected to hold talks with Morsi.

The presidents of Iran and Egypt will address the current regional and international issues, Amari said.

The Egyptian official also stated that if Iran and the six major world powers (P5+1) are willing to proceed with negotiations in Cairo, the Egyptian government would be ready to host the talks.

Egypt supports Iran’s right to achieve peaceful nuclear energy and believes that outstanding issues pertaining to Tehran’s nuclear energy activities should be settled through negotiations, Amari said.

Iran and the P5+1 (Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany) have held several rounds of talks with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The last round of negotiations was held in Moscow in June 2012.

The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran has vehemently rejected the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.