Can the resumption of direct flights between Cairo and Tehran herald a wider rapprochement between the two capitals, wonders Doaa El-Bey Egypt and Iran signed an agreement on Sunday to resume direct flights for the first time in more than three decades. The agreement, which is expected to come into effect in two months, will initially involve two flights per week though the figure could climb to 28. The agreement came during a three-day visit by a high level delegation headed by Iran's Deputy President Hamid Al-Baqaie. A second Iranian delegation met with Egyptian Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali and other officials to discuss possible joint projects in the field of health. The delegation was in Egypt to attend the 56th World Health Organisation Conference for the Middle East which convened this week in Cairo. The delegation returned to Iran on Tuesday. A member of staff at the Iranian Interests Office in Cairo said that the resumption of direct flights and possible medical cooperation were an important first step in building warmer relations. But while the move is likely to be followed by an increase in bilateral trade, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki stressed that political ties were a different matter. In an interview with the Armed Forces newspaper President Hosni Mubarak said that Iran could play a role in resolving the problems of the Middle East rather than exacerbating them. He stressed that it was Tehran that cut relations with Egypt after President Anwar El-Sadat signed a peace deal with Israel. Cairo's problems with Tehran, he added, are not confined to the fact that Tehran honoured Sadat's assassin, Khaled Al-Islamboli, by naming a street after him, but extend to other files, some security related, others linked to Iranian policies encouraging extremism. In another gesture of good will from Tehran, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa outlawing any encroachment on the companions and wives of Prophet Mohamed. He sent a copy to Ahmed El-Tayeb, the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar, who hailed it as a step towards bridging the gap between Muslim sects. Mustafa El-Labbad, director of Al-Sharq Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies, agrees that the fatwa represents a good will gesture from Iran to Al-Azhar and the Sunni world. He regards the visit of the two delegations and the resumption of flights as a positive step but warns that the moves are unlikely to lead to a diplomatic thaw any time soon. Egypt and Iran have good reasons to resume diplomatic relations: Iran needs to strengthen its relations with regional states as it faces sanctions, while Cairo is keen to be open to all regional powers, including Iran. In addition, Cairo does not want to see the formation of new regional alliances that could bring together Arab Gulf states and Iran while excluding Egypt. But, El-Labbad adds, many differences between the two states remain outstanding, including security in the Gulf, and the use of Iranian influence in Lebanon and in Iraq. "There are, too, international as well as regional coalitions -- with Saudi Arabia for instance -- that are stopping Egypt from entering into full diplomatic relations with Iran," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. Iran cut ties with Egypt after Cairo signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum to the deposed Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlawi. Iranian animosity grew when Egypt backed Saddam Hussein's Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. Tehran and Cairo did resume diplomatic contact until June 2000, with a telephone conversation between President Mubarak and his Iranian counterpart, Mohamed Khatami. The two leaders met in Geneva in December 2003, on the sidelines of a UN technology summit, prompting speculation that the countries would quickly resume full ties. The two states have repeatedly inched towards restoring full diplomatic ties. Hopes ran high for a breakthrough when the then Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Maher and his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi held talks on the fringe of the Fourth Summit Meeting of Eight Developing Countries (D8) held in Tehran in 2004. The two officials agreed to work on restoring full diplomatic relations. Maher said after the meeting that the necessary steps would soon be completed. Maher also met Khatami and disclosed after their meeting that Khatami was looking forward to "conditions that would permit him to visit Egypt". During a visit to the UAE in 2007 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that Tehran was prepared to open an Iranian embassy in Cairo immediately if the Egyptian government agreed. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit described Ahmadinejad's proposal as positive and added that he would discuss it with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, when he visited Cairo. The meeting never materialised. Hopes for a resumption of diplomatic relations were raised yet again when Ali Larijani, head of the Iranian National Security Council and a close aide to Khamenei, paid a private visit to Egypt towards the end of 2007. Larijani met Abul-Gheit, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, the head of Egyptian General Intelligence Omar Suleiman, and the then grand sheikh of Al-Azhar Sayed Tantawi. He also spoke with intellectuals and journalists. Once again there was no breakthrough. Later in the same year an Iranian documentary was broadcast glorifying Al-Islamboli and his comrades as martyrs who had assassinated a "traitor". The film met with a storm of criticism in Egypt. The documentary was condemned by Abul-Gheit and other officials, while Sadat's family considered legal action against the film's producers. Iranian officials tried to distance themselves from the documentary, claiming that it did not represent the official position of the Islamic republic, and had been produced by independent bodies. Relations between Iran and Egypt were further strained during the war on Gaza in early 2009, with Cairo accusing Tehran of trying to dominate the region through its alliances with Hamas and Hizbullah. Tehran, for its part, blamed Cairo for taking part in the blockade of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by refusing to open the Rafah border crossing. In another negative development Egyptian authorities disclosed the arrest of some 50 Lebanon based Hizbullah agents suspected of planning attacks inside Egypt. Senior officials accused Iran of attempting to destabilise the regime. Later in the same year, a visit by Larijani and his meeting with Mubarak and People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour did not lead to any noticeable improvement in relations. "Every year there are developments but we are still waiting for a breakthrough," says El-Labbad.
