CAIRO — The negotiations have ended and a preliminary framework agreement — acting as a preamble and the basis for a final nuclear agreement — between Iran and six world powers has been reached and is paving the way for the gradual lifting of economic sanctions and embargo on Iran. Ever since, Cairo has appeared to be in a state of anticipation of the negotiations’ results, expected to be completed in June 2015, to formulate an official position to achieve balance in its foreign policy, which could restore the Egyptian-Iranian relations that have been tense over the past three decades.
The tension in the relationship between the two countries started with Egypt's signing of the Camp David accords with Israel in 1979, its support for Iraq during its eight-year conflict with Iran and the Islamic Republic's hailing of Khalid Islambouli — late President Anwar Sadat's assassin — as a religious hero. As of now, Iran has no embassy in Egypt. However, despite the significant improvement in relations after President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, the tension is back again after the air campaign on Yemen and the Iranian support for the Houthis.
Immediately after it was announced on April 2 from the Swiss city of Lausanne — where talks were held — that an initial agreement on the Iranian nuclear program had been reached, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a press release on April 3, saying that Egypt is following “with interest” the details of the framework agreement, expressing Egypt's hopes that it would “achieve stability in the Middle East and eliminate weapons of mass destruction.”
Meanwhile, Cairo attended a conference for the revision of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the UN headquarters in New York on April 27. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also held meetings with international officials to discuss developments in the Iranian nuclear dossier in light of the framework agreement during April with, among others, US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
