TEHRAN (Updated) - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Saturday said that Tehran and Cairo are determined to resume bilateral relations, despite foreign political pressure on the Egyptian side. "The Egyptian Foreign Minister and the Islamic Republic of Iran have announced their readiness to expand diplomatic relations between the two countries, but some restrictions have apparently been imposed on the Egyptians," Salehi told Fars News Agency (FNA) on Saturday. "We understand the Egyptians' position. Relations between the two countries will finally resume, but the Egyptians need some time to remove the existing political pressures," he added. On May 30, Salehi voiced confidence about the improvement of relations between Iran and Egypt, but in the meantime has stressed that resuming ties between the two Muslim states needs time and patience. "Egypt is currently under certain pressure, yet the Egyptian Government and nation agree on improving relations with Iran as soon as possible," Salehi explained. After the collapse of the Hosni Mubarak's regime, officials in both countries voiced interest in resuming diplomatic relations and Salehi officially invited his Egyptian counterpart Nabil el-Arabi to visit Tehran. The Foreign Ministers held a meeting in Bali, Indonesia last month on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Meanwhile, after a 30-year rupture in bilateral relations, Egypt's Ambassador to the UN Maged Abdel-Aziz has expressed optimism over the prospects of Egypt-Iran relations, referring to the two nations as “Muslim world heavyweights”. “Iran and Egypt are two great and influential countries in the Islamic world, and we are very optimistic about the future of Tehran-Cairo ties,” the top Egyptian envoy told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in New York late on Friday. “We are very optimistic and hopeful about establishing relations with Iran, but it depends on how willing officials of both countries are,” Abdel-Aziz said. He underlined that a series of preliminary arrangements have to be made first so that the “mission” to resume ties with the Islamic Republic can go ahead without a hitch. Relations between Cairo and Tehran have been thawing since Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11. In April, a number of Iranian tourism agencies signed an agreement with Egypt for the exchange of tourists between the two countries, according to which 10,000 Iranians will be able to travel to Egypt monthly, while 60,000 Egyptians can visit Iran annually, said the Chairman of the Iran-Egypt Council of Merchants Muhyaddin Al-Gandur. The agreement will take effect once Egypt and Iran exchange respective ambassadors, the FNA reported on Thursday. Earlier this month, a 50-member popular Egyptian delegation paid a visit to the predominantly Shia country. The visit of intellectuals, activists and clerics came as a surprise, coinciding with the expulsion of the Iranian diplomat Qasim Hosseini from Cairo, suspected by the Egyptian authorities of spying. It seems “optimism” has been a recurrent theme in the comments made by officials from both countries when talking about the potential restoration of ties. In May, Salehi was quoted as saying: "We are optimistic about the future of ties between the two countries.”
