Officials from Iraq and Iran on Sunday expressed desires for their countries’ to revive relations with Egypt and capitalize on Egyptian labor and investments.
Humam Baqir Hamoudi, chairman of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said during a meeting with the Arab Affairs Committee of Egypt’s People’s Assembly on Sunday that Iraq is eyeing Egyptian labor and hoping that Egypt’s businessmen will make investments in the country.
“Iraq is in need of the Egyptian workforce and investments, as it regains stability after the US occupation has left,” Hamoudi said at the meeting. “Iraq’s budget has soared to more than US$100 billion, and there are fresh chances for investment.”
Meanwhile, Mojtabi Amani, the head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, said on Sunday that his country is ready for full collaboration with Egypt and a restoration of bilateral relations.
At a celebration at his residence to mark Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Amani said Iran hopes Egypt will be a path for its exports to Africa. He said Iran also wants to benefit from Egyptian expertise and export jointly produced products to the rest of the continent.
Asked whether Iran has reached a common ground with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood on foreign policy issues, Amani said the Brotherhood is currently occupied with domestic, rather than foreign, policy.
Iran and Iraq are governed by Shia Muslim majorities. Egypt is wary of attempts to promote Shia doctrine in its mostly Sunni Muslim society, a concern expressed by Al-Azhar, the highest religious institution in the Sunni world.
Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb in September said he rejects attempts to spread Shia doctrine in Islamic countries and what he called recurrent insults by Shias to Prophet Mohamed and his companions.
Egypt and Iran severed official ties in 1979 when Iran underwent an Islamic revolution and Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. However, relations have improved since a popular uprising forced former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power early last year.
In 2009, Egypt appointed an ambassador to Iraq after a four-year hiatus of ambassadorial representation that followed the assassination of its former ambassador, Ihab al-Sharif, in 2005.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
