The Egyptian opposition paper Al-Masryoon reported that a diplomatic source in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had told it of Iranian attempts to bring about a tightening of relations with Egypt. The source said that Iran had recently renewed its contacts with Egypt via a number of Egyptian embassies in the Gulf states and Europe, and added that that during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, his staff had asked Saudi Arabia to mediate between Egypt and Iran, and had made efforts to organize a visit by Ahmadinejad to Egypt and a meeting between him and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as soon as possible.
It was also reported that Iran's proposal regarding Iranian-Egyptian economic and commercial cooperation had been met with the answer that first, the problems between them had to be resolved, and that Iran had to stop supporting armed militias in some of the Arab countries.
The source added that in the coming days, there could be unofficial contacts between Egyptian and Iranian diplomats to discuss these issues.
Source: Al-Masryoon, Egypt, March 7, 2007
