Report Claims Iran and Egypt Are Mending Ties

Cairo and Tehran have agreed to develop relations, according to a report by the Qatar-affiliated media outlet Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, quoting Egyptian diplomatic sources.

According to the Wednesday report, Iranian and Egyptian officials sat for talks last week during a visit by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s to Oman. 

The London-based pan-Arab daily said that the officials agreed on “gradual expansion of Tehran-Cairo relations as well as coordination on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Syria,” noting that the meeting was attended by a high-ranking figure from the delegation accompanying the Egyptian president, with Omani coordination. 

The paper claimed that most of the Egyptian military leadership opposes joining any pact directed against Tehran.

The Egyptian delegation accompanying Sisi in the visit included Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Chief of General Intelligence Abbas Kamel, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Saeed.

The sources said that the meeting was focused on security in general, adding that "there were many points of agreement between the two parties” on issues of mutual interest.

They said the Iranian and Egyptian officials also agreed to cooperate in the framework of international forums as long as that was possible in order to gradually increase the level of ties. 

Late in June, Egyptian and Iranian intelligence officials also held a meeting, in which Egypt warned Iran not to target Israelis on its territory, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed reported, without disclosing details about the location and participants of the meet.

Ties between Iran and Egypt turned hostile following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Despite some tensions, they share membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Developing 8.