An advisor to the Iranian president, Attallah Muhajirani, said that both reformist and conservative parties in his country were not against resuming relations with Egypt, and encouraged better ties with the Arab World.
In an interview with an Egyptian weekly, cited by Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA), Muhajirani added that the Egyptian-Iranian sides had to be more careful, and try to reactivate bilateral ties.
He also said he believed that Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s term had witnessed strong signs of good will such as the exchange of diplomatic visits.
The step of assigning Khasro Shahi as head of the Iranian-Egyptian interests office, the official told Al Musawir weekly magazine, which will publish the interview on Friday, signifies the importance of Egypt in Iranian foreign policy.
Muhajirani also referred to the possibility of changing the name of a street in Tehran that now memorializes Khalid Islambolly, who assassinated former Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat.
He added that the Tehran municipal council had taken steps on this issue.
Ice was broken between the two countries when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Khatami had a telephone conversation last year, the first contact between top leaders in 20 years.
Iran's Islamic Republic 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 countries established interest sections in their respective states, and commercial cooperation has been healthy since then – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
