CAIRO: In another episode of the push and pull relationship between Egypt and Iran, the two countries have once again agreed to embark on a series of ministerial meetings after the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister held talks in Cairo with foreign ministry officials.
“There has been an agreement to continue dialogue between both sides in particular over bilateral relations on the level of senior officials and then foreign ministers, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The statement indicated that these meetings were part of a previously agreed upon arrangement between the two sides to continue dialogue and consultations with the aim of reinforcing bilateral ties.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led an Iranian delegation that met with Egypt’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Hussein Dirar and other assistant foreign ministers on Tuesday to explore ways of resuming ties, which have been frozen between the two countries since 1980.
There was no one available to comment on the meetings at the Iranian mission office when contacted by Daily News Egypt.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told AFP that the Iranians want to talk, have contacts, and Egypt won t close the door. Both sides are willing to develop relations and advance towards removing the questions obstructing, the resumption of relations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated last May that Iran was willing to restore full diplomatic relations with Egypt the “very day Cairo agrees.
“We are ready to establish diplomatic ties with Egypt. If the Egyptian government signals its willingness, we will open our embassy that very same day, the Iranian leader said.
Currently, there are international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner stating that the world must be prepared to go to war with Iran if need be to halt its nuclear ambitions.
In January, President Hosni Mubarak warned Iran about its nuclear program and the repercussions it may entail for the region.
Historically, ties between Egypt and Iran have been strained since the 1979 revolution and late President Anwar Sadat’s decision to give refuge to the overthrown Shah of Iran in Egypt. Ties between the two countries officially broke off in 1980 to protest the 1978 Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel.
The then new Iranian regime was so incensed by both these incidents that they named a street in Tehran after Khaled Eslamboli, the Egyptian army officer who assassinated Sadat in 1981.
In January 2004, the Tehran City Council agreed to rename Khaled Eslamboli Street to Intifada Avenue, but the old name can still be seen on street signs.
