Iran is ready to strengthen relations with Egypt

Iran’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that his country is ready to strengthen its relationship with Egypt based on mutual respect and common interests, Palestine’s Safa news agency has reported.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Egypt is an “important and effective” country in the region. He stressed that Iran is strengthening its relations with countries across the Middle East in order to contribute to regional stability, adding that the government in Tehran is placing special emphasis on its relations with members of the Non-Aligned Movement and African countries.

Zarif made his remarks just one day after an Iranian website published news about a group of elite Egyptian Shia visiting Iran and meeting a number of government officials. According to Safa, the website noted that the group, whose members support President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, briefed the Iranians about their situation in Egypt and called for Tehran to reopen its embassy in Cairo.

They apparently insisted to the Iranians that Al-Sisi’s policies are not hostile towards them, unlike, they said, the “extremist Wahhabis”.