The Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, Mir Masoud Hosseinian, said that the possibility of improvement of relations between Tehran and Riyadh will have a positive effect on the normalization of the situation between Iran and Egypt.
According to him, Tehran is working to improve relations with Egypt, but this process is slow, and Tehran is facing two serious problems in relations with Cairo. Hosseinian noted that detention of an Iranian oil tanker by Egypt and award of death penalty to several Iranian citizens for alleged transportation of drugs into Egypt, were the contentious issues between the two nations. According to reports, several rounds of talks have taken place between Tehran and Riyadh and dialogues are focused on bilateral and regional issues, including the situation in the Persian Gulf, Yemen, and Syria. The two opposing nations could not grasp any positive outcome of the years long conflict and yet come to the negotiating table to resolve the issues.
The diplomatic relations of Iran with regional states including GCC member countries witnessed a record low during past decades, mainly due to its spring ties with Saudi Arabia and sanctioning by the United Nations and the US in connection with its nuclear program.
As far as Egypt is concerned, despite the absence of any territorial dispute between the two countries, the bilateral ties between Tehran and Cairo remained at odds most of the time in history chiefly due to their respective ideological allegiances and political reasons.
In fact, bilateral ties between Iran and Egypt went through several ups and downs in history, however Iranian revolution of 1979 led to a complete halt of their relationship. Both countries resumed their bilateral relations after three decades of suspension during 2011, however yet they need to reset a normal discourse between them.
After initiation of negotiations for normalization of ties between Tehran and Riyadh during recent months, the overall environment of confidence and trust has emerged which displayed an upward trend in business and social activities in the regional markets.
According to reports, after years of wars and rivalries in the middle east region, the warring nations are in the process of mending ties with each other. Presently, Iran- Saudi Arabia, Iran- Egypt and Egypt-Turkey, KSA and Syria are engaged in ending their rivalries and seizing the opportunities of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the region.
Although, Iranian leadership has expressed hope for improvement in bilateral relations with Egypt which is a positive approach, what are the thoughts and hopes of the Al-Sisi regime regarding its relations with the government of President Raisi in Iran.
