Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb will meet with Iran’s foreign minister in Cairo on Thursday afternoon.
State-run news agency MENA reported Tuesday that Tayyeb and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi would review the latest developments in the Arab and Islamic arenas, and what Al-Azhar could possibly do to help achieve national reconciliation in Egypt.
Iran and Egypt severed ties after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, due to the Egyptian government’s support for the overthrown Shah and its peace agreement with Israel. Both nations have long vied for power in the Middle East. Egypt has been allied with the US and Israel for decades, but since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak relations between Cairo and Tehran have warmed.
President Mohamed Morsy's visit to Iran in August was the first by an Egyptian president since the Iranian revolution.
