Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher stressed on Sunday that his country was keen to have good relations with Iran because of its key role in the region.
Maher told reporters that the ball was in Iran’s court regarding boosting relations with Cairo, the official Kuwait news agency, KUNA, quoted him as saying.
“Enhancing relations between Cairo and Tehran is an Iranian-Iranian matter,” he said, adding "we hear from many Iranians who call for enhancing relations with Egypt...and then we hear the opposite of that."
Maher's statements came in response to a question on his country's point of view regarding Iranian-Arab relations in the coming period in light of the re-election of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who on Friday won another four-year term.
Ice was broken between the two countries when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Khatami held a telephone conversation last year, the first contact between the countries' top leaders in 20 years.
Iran severed its relations with Egypt in 1979, after the latter signed a peace agreement with Israel. Ties became more strained after Egypt hosted the overthrown Iranian Shah.
In 1991, however, the two countries established interest sections in their respective states, and commercial cooperation has been healthy since then - Albawaba.com
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