Iran has announced it will renew relations with the new Egyptian regime by sending an ambassador to Cairo in several months.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the move will come as soon as the new provisional military regime in Egypt says it is ready to renew diplomatic ties that were severed in 1979 after Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
Cairo’s Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi said last April that the new regime is ready to "open a new page" in relations with Iran.
“We are certain that [bilateral] relations will improve in future,” Salehi said on Saturday, according to the government’s Press TV.
“Iran and Egypt are two important countries whose relations are rooted in history,” the Iranian minister added, saying that during the past two decades bilateral ties had been affected by the policies of Egypt's former rulers, meaning ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
A northern axis of Iran, Hizbullah-dominated Lebanon and Syria already threatens Israel from the north. Adding Egypt, which is under growing influence by the Muslim Brotherhood, to the terror axis would be a bonanza for Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The Iranian foreign minister rejected charges by the United States that the Islamic republic sponsors terrorism in Iraq.
“Is our support of Hizbullah that legitimately defends its country terrorism?” he asked rhetorically. “Is spiritual support of Hamas whose country has been occupied terrorism? If this is terrorism they must reconsider [their definition].
"Development of the Iran-Egypt relations contributes to stability, security and peace in the region," Salehi emphasized, expressing confidence that the relations between the two countries will be restored in the near future.