Iran, Egypt hope for speedy resumption of ties

Tehran, July 31 (IANS) Iran and Egypt have expressed hope that bilateral ties will be resumed as soon as possible.

In a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty exchanged views on bilateral relations, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement published on the website of the Iranian president’s office.Pezeshkian said Iran and Egypt were two “brotherly” countries whose peoples had a “heartfelt” interest in one another, pointing to the two countries’ “age-old, brilliant and glorious” civilizational backgrounds.He hoped that the problems hindering the normalisation of bilateral ties would be completely resolved as soon as possible.Pezeshkian said Iran and Egypt could help resolve many of the region’s problems, noting Iran is ready to cooperate and exchange experiences, capabilities, and bilateral capacities with Egypt.The Egyptian foreign minister, who was in Iran to attend Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony held on Tuesday, said the two countries adopted close positions on issues such as non-interference in other states’ affairs, protecting the multilateral international system and defending humanitarian rights.He added the normalisation of bilateral ties was continuing on its path, hoping that the two countries would manage to officially begin cooperation with each other as soon as possible to safeguard mutual interests.Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In recent months, both countries have expressed willingness to mend ties by settling differences on certain issues.In November 2023, late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and current Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held their first meeting in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit to end the Gaza conflict.–IANSint/sha