CAIRO, 31 January 2008 — A resumption of full diplomatic ties between Iran and Egypt is only a matter of time, Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Gholamali Haddad Adel said yesterday. Mubarak held talks with Haddad Adel yesterday.
Haddad Adel hailed his “very good” meeting with Mubarak, who he said had insisted on rejecting any pressure from Washington aimed at stopping the resumption of diplomatic ties.
“The fact that I’m here is proof of the improvement in relations between the Islamic republic and Egypt,” Haddad Adel told journalists.
“Maybe some people think the US is putting pressure to stop the return of relations between Egypt and Iran but President Mubarak has said he does not accept any pressure from the US and that his positions are based on Egypt’s interests.”
Iran broke off ties with Egypt after the 1979 revolution in anger when President Anwar Sadat hosted the deposed pro-Western Shah in Cairo. Both countries are represented by interest sections but ties have improved over the past five years.
Haddad Adel described as “minor issues” Egyptian demands that a Tehran street named after the assassin of Sadat should be changed and murals in the Iranian capital of the assassin removed.
“These are partial and minor issues that could be solved in bilateral talks and are not considered among the key obstacles in the normalization of relations,” he said.
Mubarak and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke by telephone about regional issues this month, the first direct talks between the two leaders. Ahmadinejad said in May that Tehran was ready to revive ties with Egypt and open an embassy in Cairo.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday that Tehran was on the threshold of restoring diplomatic ties with Cairo but was awaiting a signal from Egypt.
In a rare visit to Egypt earlier this month, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani met Egyptian officials and said relations between the two countries were improving.
