Iran welcomes any initiative aimed at restoring ties with Egypt: FM

TEHRAN, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister has said that Iran welcomes any initiative aimed at restoring its relations with Egypt in line with the two sides’ interests, Iran’s IRIB news agency reported on Thursday.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in an interview with the IRIB news agency, which was published on Thursday.

He revealed that Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, during his visit to Iran in late May, informed Iranian officials of his talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi about restoring the Iran-Egypt ties.

The Iranian top diplomat said that there has been no problem between Tehran and Cairo, adding that the Egyptian president’s positions on regional developments in recent years, especially on the fight against the Islamic State and Syrian issue, have been "logical and correct."

In a meeting with the Omani sultan in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his country welcomes the resumption of bilateral relations with Egypt and has no problem in this regard, according to his official website.

On May 21, the Omani sultan met the Egyptian president during a two-day official visit to Cairo and discussed various bilateral, regional and international issues, including the Egypt-Iran detente.

Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In recent years, Iran has announced readiness to mend its ties with Egypt by settling differences on certain issues.

Following the March agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the normalization of their bilateral ties and the former’s efforts to improve relations with regional Arab states over the past months, the likelihood of restoring relations between Tehran and Cairo has grown.