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| Shoukry offers condolences to Iran's Charge d'Affaires Ali Bagheri on the death of Raisi (Egyptian Foreign Ministry |
Egyptian-Iranian relations are witnessing a state of activity, enhancing rapprochement efforts between the two countries, after a stalemate that lasted for years. According to observers who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, the succession of meetings between officials of the two countries “builds a good foundation for the restoration of relations,” and their repetition “increases rapprochement efforts,” amid a discrepancy in the expected time frame for restoring full relations.
On Monday, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency said that Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS countries in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.
Shukri recently visited Tehran to offer condolences on the death of former President Ibrahim Raisi, where he informed him of his country’s determination to continue efforts to raise the level of relations with Egypt.
The Iranian presidency said last November that Raisi informed his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a meeting between them in Riyadh at that time that Iran had no objection to developing relations with Egypt.
On Wednesday, June 5, Shoukry received a call from Bagheri, during which the latter expressed “the Iranian side’s appreciation for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offering condolences on the death of the late Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, and his sending the Foreign Minister to Tehran to offer condolences,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement. Egyptian at the time.
The phone call touched on the Gaza issue “and issues related to bilateral relations between Egypt and Iran,” and “the two ministers agreed on the importance of pursuing the path of developing bilateral relations to ensure that all outstanding issues are addressed, in preparation for restoring relations to normal.”
The statement stated that this treatment is based “on the principles of mutual respect and good neighbourliness, working to achieve the interests of the Egyptian and Iranian peoples, and supporting the stability of the region.”
Relations between Egypt and Iran witnessed tension after the outbreak of the revolution in Iran in 1979, and were officially severed after Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel, but the two countries maintained an “interests protection mission.”
Good ground to come back
The former Iranian ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Sabah Zangeneh, said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that “the continuation of meetings between officials from both sides reflects a desire to develop these relations and raise them to better levels that support and develop the interests of the two countries and also support the Palestinian position.”
It is believed that developing Egyptian-Iranian relations means “further improvement of the economic situation in Cairo and Tehran, given that Egypt constitutes the gateway to Africa, and Iran the gateway to Asia, which enhances the benefits of the two countries and works to create a solid foundation for stability in the region.”
Exploratory phase
Dr. Mohamed Abbas Naji, an expert on Iranian affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that “relations are still in an exploratory stage and the continuation of meetings only suggests strengthening rapprochement efforts.”
It is believed that in order for relations to reach a new stage regarding activating the return of ambassadors, it will take “more time and consultations, and these meetings go in that direction and give no more indication than enhancing rapprochement.”
It is unlikely that the tensions in the region will be “a gateway to push Egypt and Iran to rush to complete the return of relations,” and he adds: “Cairo is monitoring Iran’s behavior in the region, and the Gaza file will make it read it better, within the framework of a comprehensive treatment and a real return to relations.”
But on the other hand, Dr. Muhammad Mohsen Abu Al-Nour, head of the Arab Forum for Analysis of Iranian Policies, believes that “the intensity of contacts and interviews at the presidential and ministerial levels indicates that work is underway to implement mechanisms to restore relations and remove controversial issues within the framework of reassurance and confidence-building measures carried out by the Iranian side.” ».
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Abu Al-Nour suggested that the meetings will proceed at a greater pace within the framework of “efforts to reach a final formulation to restore relations and ambassadors.”
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