Iran Blames Foreign Political Pressures for Delayed Resumption of Ties with Egypt

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi underlined Tehran and Cairo's determination to resume their bilateral relations, and said that the delay in the overture is only the result of the foreign political pressures exerted on the Egyptian side, which of course will soon be removed.
"The Egyptian foreign minister and also the Islamic Republic of Iran have announced their readiness to expand diplomatic relations between the two countries, but some restrictions have apparently been imposed on the Egyptians," Salehi told FNA on Saturday.

"We understand the Egyptians' conditions, and the relations between the two countries will finally resume, but Egyptians are interested to have some time in a bid to be able to manage (the situation) to remove the existing political pressures," he added.

On May 30, Salehi had also voiced confidence about the improvement of relations between Iran and Egypt, but meantime said that resuming ties between the two Muslim states needs time and patience.

"Egypt is currently under certain pressure, yet the Egyptian government and nation are in consensus about the improvement of relations with Iran as soon as possible," Salehi said at the time.

After the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime, the Iranian and Egyptian officials voiced their interest in the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries and Salehi officially invited his Egyptian counterpart Nabil al-Arabi to pay a visit to Tehran.

The Iranian foreign minister and his Egyptian counterpart also held a meeting in Bali, Indonesia last week.

During the meeting which took place on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the two diplomats conferred on ways to promote the bilateral relations between Tehran and Cairo, and stressed the need for continued consultations in this regard.

Al-Arabi had earlier announced that Cairo would soon open a new page with Iran.