Cairo-Tehran ties not at Gulf\u2019s expense<\/strong>
Meanwhile, Egypt will not improve its ties with Iran at the expense of undermining Gulf Arab security, Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\u201cThe security of Gulf countries is a red line for Egypt,\u201d Amr said on the eve of an Islamic summit, in a bid to reassure Sunni Arab nations in the Gulf wary of a rapprochement with Shiite Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cEgypt\u2019s relations with any country, particularly Gulf nations, will not be made at the expense of their security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Mohammed Mursi’s administration wants to safeguard relations with Gulf Arab states that are supporting Cairo\u2019s battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran. <\/p>\n
Mursi wants to preserve ties with the United States, the source of $1.3 billion in aid each year to the influential Egyptian military.<\/p>\n
Mursi\u2019s government has established close ties with Hamas, a movement backed by Iran and shunned by the West because of its hostility to Israel, but its priority is addressing Egypt’s deep economic problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe restoration of full relations with Iran in this period is difficult, despite the warmth in ties … because of many problems including the Syrian crisis and Cairo\u2019s links with the Gulf states, Israel and the United States,\u201d said one former Egyptian diplomat.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of preparatory meetings for the two-day Islamic summit, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was optimistic that ties could grow closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are gradually improving. We have to be a little bit patient. I’m very hopeful about the expansion of the bilateral relationship,\u201d he said. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: \u201cTrade and economics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahmadinejad\u2019s visit to Egypt follows Mursi\u2019s visit to Iran in August for a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.<\/p>\n
Obstacles to fuel ties<\/strong>
Mursi kissed Ahmadinejad as he disembarked from his plane at Cairo airport, footage broadcast by Egyptian state television showed.<\/p>\nAt the airport the two leaders discussed ways of boosting relations between their countries and resolving the Syrian crisis \u201cwithout resorting to military intervention,\u201d Egyptian state media reported.<\/p>\n
Egypt is concerned by Iran\u2019s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising inspired by the revolt that swept Mubarak from power two years ago. <\/p>\n
Egypt\u2019s overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population is broadly supportive of the uprising against Assad\u2019s Alawite-led administration.
<\/strong><\/p>\nMuslim relations<\/strong>
Salehi stessed the importance of Muslim unity when he met Tayeb at al-Azhar last month.<\/p>\nEgypt and Iran have taken opposite courses since the late 1970s. Egypt, under Mubarak\u2019s predecessor Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and became a close ally of the United States and Europe. Iran from 1979 turned into a center of opposition to Western influence in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Symbolically, Iran named a street in Tehran after the Islamist who led the 1981 assassination of Sadat.<\/p>\n
Egypt gave asylum and a state funeral to Iran\u2019s exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown by the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a medieval Cairo mosque alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt\u2019s last king, Farouk.<\/p>\n
Source: Al Arabiya with agencies<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s top cleric Ahmed al-Tayyeb told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday to not interfere in the affairs of Bahrain or the Gulf and to uphold the rights of his country\u2019s Sunni minority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Al-Azhar tells Ahmadinejad: \u2018Iran must not interfere in the Gulf\u2019 - SunniOnline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/02\/07\/2703\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Al-Azhar tells Ahmadinejad: \u2018Iran must not interfere in the Gulf\u2019 - SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Egypt\u2019s top cleric Ahmed al-Tayyeb told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday to not interfere in the affairs of Bahrain or the Gulf and to uphold the rights of his country\u2019s Sunni minority.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/02\/07\/2703\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-07T09:16:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"majed\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\"},\"headline\":\"Al-Azhar tells Ahmadinejad: \u2018Iran must not interfere in the Gulf\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-07T09:16:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":657,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/07\\\/2703\\\/\",\"name\":\"Al-Azhar tells Ahmadinejad: \u2018Iran must not interfere in the Gulf\u2019 - 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![](\"images\/stories\/news2\/azhar-ahamdinejad.jpg\")
Egypt\u2019s top cleric Ahmed al-Tayyeb told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday to not interfere in the affairs of Bahrain or the Gulf and to uphold the rights of his country\u2019s Sunni minority.