Cairo, November 15: An Egyptian presidential hopeful says Iran is not an enemy state in the Middle East and Cairo will try to establish closer relations with Tehran in the future.
“We should not label Iran as an enemy state in the region,” Amr Moussa told the German-language Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger in an interview published on Monday.
He added that Egypt is determined to establish closer ties with Iran and has sought to promote reconciliation between the Palestinians as a mediator.
Commenting on Egypt’s relations with Israel, Moussa said Cairo views the Sinai Peninsula in a special light and past agreements with Tel Aviv in this regard must be changed.
Last April, Head of Egypt’s ruling military council Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi praised Iran’s ‘excellent’ position in the Muslim world, and expressed hope that Tehran-Cairo relations could be increased.
“We hope that the upcoming stage would be a stage of special bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, serving the best of both countries,” Tantawi told the German magazine, Der Spiegel.
Iran severed ties with Egypt after Cairo signed the 1978 Camp David Accords with the Israeli regime and offered asylum to Iran’s deposed dictator, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
——Agencies