Chairman of Iran's parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi described establishing relations with Egypt as “an important opportunity” for Iran.
Mehr news agency reported that Boroujerdi said on Friday, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must seriously pursue the establishment of bilateral relations between Iran and Egypt.” This statement was a response to an earlier statement by Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil al-Arabi regarding the establishment of relations with Iran.
Al-Arabi, had asserted last Tuesday that Iran is Egypt’s neighbor and that the government does not consider it an enemy.
“Iran is a neighboring country and we have long historical relations across all eras. The Egyptian government does not consider [Iran] an enemy and is opening a new page with all countries, including Iran,” al-Arabi said during a press conference.
Commenting on the previous Egyptian regime, Boroujerdi said that the regime’s State Security apparatus was the biggest obstacle toward the establishment of relations between Egypt and Iran. Fortunately, the collapse of the regime–and with it State Security–and domestic developments in Egypt have set the ground for relations between the two countries.
Boroujerdi stressed the need to “support all revolutions and Islamic uprisings in countries of the region.” Boroujerdi expressed his hope that bilateral relations between Tehran and Cairo would resume.
