Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s political advisor, Osama Al Baz, said on Sunday in Cairo that Iran and
Egypt had no conflicting interests.
In a meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of research and training, Sadeq Kharrazi, Baz stressed that the “Egyptian nation gives special respect to the Iranian people,” according to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.
Regarding relations between the two countries, he said that Tehran and Cairo enjoyed historical and deep-rooted ties.
"President Mohammad Khatami is a significant Islamic figure whose viewpoints have made Islamic countries closer to each other," Baz said.
On his country's foreign policy, he reiterated that Cairo had always followed an independent policy in arriving at decisions to open and expand ties with world countries.
Referring to differences in the US and Egyptian positions with respect to issues affecting the Middle East region, particularly the issue of Palestine, he stressed that Cairo was a supporter of the Palestinian nation and favored the restoration of its legitimate rights, as well as the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
"Iranian and Egyptian interests are closely linked," he said, adding that Cairo believed that friendly ties among Muslim states had a great impact on the entire world.
For his part, Kharrazi said that Iran “supports the anti-Zionist policies of Egypt.”
"Iran and Egypt can play a determining role in the establishment of friendship among Islamic states," he said, adding that the two countries could help in efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state by cooperating.
Referring to a two-day panel discussion attended by Iranian and Egyptian scholars, he expressed hope that relations between the two countries' thinkers and scholars would be much tighter in the future.
A second panel discussion among Iranian and Egyptian intellectuals was held at Al Ahram University's Center for Strategic Studies on Saturday.
The first panel discussion on the subject Restoration of Iran-Egypt Relations was held in June in Tehran at the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Institute for International and Political Studies.
Discussions during the two-day second gathering in Cairo focused on the subjects The New World Order: A Golden Opportunity for Iran and Egypt to Improve Relations, Regional Development: Their Effects on Iran and Egypt, and Iran and Egypt: Surveying Roots of Relations.
The panel discussion attracted broad attention from the Egyptian mass media, the public and intellectuals, said IRNA.
Tehran-Cairo ties have significantly warmed since June 2000 when President Khatami spoke by phone with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, the first such conversation by the presidents of the two countries since they broke ties in 1979 as a result of Egypt's signing of the Camp David peace treaty with Israel.
Relations have since improved and the two countries now run individual interest sections through the Swiss embassies in their respective capitals, manned by Iranian and Egyptian diplomats.
The last sticking point in their relations is a Tehran street honoring the assassin of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and a square in Cairo named after the last ousted Iranian monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
In an unexpected move, the Tehran City Council recently voted to open an urgent debate on the disputed street and square, which could be the last stumbling blocks to full restoration of Iran-Egypt ties – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
