Raisi orders Iran’s foreign ministry to pursue diplomatic relations with Egypt

President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered Iran’s foreign ministry to actively pursue the resumption of diplomatic relations with Egypt, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

This comes a day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his openness to reestablishing diplomatic ties with Egypt.

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Iran “is ready to resume and develop relations with Egypt, and the president has directed the foreign ministry to pursue this matter with seriousness,” state news agency IRNA quoted government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi as saying.

Relations between Tehran and Cairo became strained following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

During a meeting with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Tehran on Monday, Khamenei said that the Omani leader had conveyed Egypt’s interest in resuming relations.

“We welcome the Omani Sultan’s statement regarding Egypt’s willingness to restore relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we have no objection to this,” Khamenei’s official website quoted him as saying.

This comes as countries in the region are working to reduce tensions. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement, brokered by China, to reestablish diplomatic relations after seven years of no formal ties.

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