Iran-Egypt trade to increase fourfold: Iranian official

TEHRAN,Oct.24(MNA) – The director of Iran’s Interests Section in Cairo said that the volume of trade between Iran and Egypt will increase by four times by 2013. In an interview with the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper published on Tuesday, Mojtaba Amani said that the value of trade between Egypt and Iran was $100 million in 2010 and it reached $130 million in 2011. And it will increase to $400 million by 2013, he stated. Amani said that Iran and Egypt have political relationship, but it needs to be reformed. He also noted that the fact that the two countries have not still established full diplomatic ties is due to the problems facing the newly-established Egyptian government and lack of decision-making centers that can decide about the sensitive issues. In addition, Amani dismissed the allegations that Iran is shipping arms to the Syrian government, saying, “The Syrian Army is among the most powerful armies in the Middle East.”