The first flight between Egypt and Iran left since the Iranian revolution 34 years ago left Cairo for Tehran Saturday morning.
The flight marched the launch of a new air link between the two countries, which aims in part to increase the number of Iranian tourists visiting Egypt.
Official sources at Cairo airport said on Saturday that the plane belongs to the Air Memphis Company, and that it headed to Tehran as Flight Number 8000, carrying eight Iranian passengers on board, including two diplomats.
The company is likely one that organizes trips between Iranian cities and regional airports in southern Egypt, in accordance with the agreement signed during the recent visit of Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou to Tehran.
Egypt and Iran cut diplomatic relations after the Iranian revolution in 1979, in part due to former Iranian Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi being granted asylum in Egypt by former President Anwar Sadat. Pahlavi died in 1980 in Egypt and is buried in Cairo’s Al-Refai Mosque.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy paid a visit Tehran during the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in August 2012, a visit that marked the beginning of a resumption in diplomatic relations between the two countries. In February 2013, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Cairo.
Edited translation from al-Masry al-Youm
