Senior MP Calls for Development of Ties between Iran, Egypt

A senior Iranian legislator underlined Tehran and Cairo’s abundant commonalities in different fields, and asked the two countries’ officials to resume relations between the two countries at the earliest.

Member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali in a meeting with Head of Egypt’s interests section in Iran Khalid al-Said Ibrahim Amari pointed to the two countries’ commonalities in the historical, cultural and religious fields, and called for the expansion of mutual ties in all spheres, particularly in parliamentary affairs.

The Iranian legislator also indicated the readiness of the Iranian parliament to transfer its experiences to the Egyptian legislative bodies, especially the newly-elected parliament.

Amari, for his part, pointed to the age-old and cultural ties between Iran and Egypt, and called for further cooperation between officials of the two countries in an attempt to boost bilateral relations.

He appreciated the Iranian nation and government for supporting the Egyptian revolution, and described Iran and Egypt as “two wings of the Islamic civilization” in the east and west of the Middle East.

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 in September 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.”