Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hameed-Reza Asfa on Saturday said there had been a significant shift in his country's relations with Egypt, allowing more room for different perspectives and closer ties, reported the official Kuwaiti news agency, KUNA.
The head of the Iranian interests section in Cairo, Khosrow Shahi, was quoted in reports as saying that his country welcomed full relations with Egypt.
He said that Cairo-Tehran ties were making progress, reflecting the desire of both sides to normalize diplomatic relations.
The diplomat was referring to the convening of a conference on Egyptian-Iranian relations in Cairo on July 21, the London-based Arab paper Asharq Al Awsat reported Thursday.
The two-day conference is to focus on ways of developing Cairo-Tehran relations.
Meanwhile, the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Mohammad Said Idris, head of the Arabian Gulf Studies section at Al Ahram Strategic Studies Center in Cairo, as saying that the conference would deal with Egyptian-Iranian ties from three perspectives.
The first perspective will tackle the effect of the international environment on Egyptian-Iranian ties through the study of globalization and the emergence of the dialog of civilizations.
The second will cover the effect of the regional environment and problems in the Arabian Gulf on relations between Cairo and Tehran, and the effect of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The third perspective, according to the exper, will focus purely on ties between Egypt and the Iran.
Idris pointed out that the fist conference on Egyptian-Iranian ties was held in Tehran last July. He noted that the Iranian delegation to Cairo would be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sadeq Kharrazi and include top scholars and personalities – Albawaba.com
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