Egypt–Iran relations
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Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
appointed its first ambassador to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
in almost 30 years. Despite oft-wavering tensions between the two countries, they share membership in the OIC and the Developing 8. According to a 2013
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
World Service poll, 15% of Egyptians view Iran's influence positively, and 48% express a negative view. In a 2012 poll conducted by the Israel Project where 812 Egyptians were questioned about Iran's nuclear programs, 61% of the 812 individuals expressed support for the Iranian nuclear program.


History

Egypt was occupied by the
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
and
Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
Persian Empires during ancient times. Despite sharing the
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
faith, Fatimid Egypt and Buyid Iran had unfriendly relations due to conflicting interests over Syria and Jazira. Both later declined under the pressure of the
Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
. Following the 1258 Sack of Baghdad, the Sunni Caliphs found asylum in
Mamluk Egypt The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th ...
. The Ilkhanate Mongols, based in Iran, fought many wars with the Mamluks even after converting to Islam. In the 15th century, Mamluk Egypt and Iran under the Aq Qoyunlu Padishah continued to clash in Upper Mesopotamia, culminating in the Battle of Urfa after a similar Iranian advance into Egyptian dependencies in the decade before. However, attitudes changed when Ottoman expansion tipped the balance of power in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. The Ottomans invaded Egypt once a Safavid-Mamluk alliance seemed imminent. In 1939, diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were upgraded to ambassadorial level, and
Youssef Zulficar Pasha Youssef Zulficar Pasha () (6 June 1866 – 15 July 1965) was an Egyptian judge. He was the father of Queen Farida of Egypt and thus father-in-law of King Farouk I. Youssef Zulficar belonged to an Egyptian Circassian family, whose ancestors came ...
was appointed as Egypt's first ambassador in Tehran. In the same year, Princess Fawzia of Egypt, the sister of
King Farouk I Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1 ...
, married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the then crown prince (later shah) of Iran. The relationship between Iran and Egypt had fallen into open hostility after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 which brought Gamal Abdel Nasser to power and the CIA-backed coup d'état in Iran in 1953 which saw the return of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power. Due to the positive approach of the Shah towards Israel in July 1960 Egypt and Iran expelled each other's ambassadors. The strained relations between Egypt and Iran became progressively worse when Nasser financed Ayatollah Khomeini in May 1963 to accelerate the latter's opposition to the Shah. Following Nasser's death in 1970, the
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
of
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
turned the relationship around quickly into an open and cordial friendship. Overnight, Egypt and Iran were turned from bitter enemies into fast friends. The relationship between Cairo and Tehran became so friendly that the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, called Sadat his "dear brother." After the 1973 war with Israel, Iran assumed a leading role in cleaning up and reactivating the blocked Suez Canal with heavy investment. Iran also facilitated the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
by promising to substitute with free Iranian oil the loss of the oil to the Israelis if they withdrew from the Egyptian oil wells in Western Sinai. All these added more to the personal friendship between Sadat and the Shah of Iran. "Ties between the countries—among the largest and most influential in the Middle East—were turned hostile once again following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Diplomatic relations between the two severed in 1980 following the admission of the deposed Shah of Iran to Egypt (where he died and was buried) and Egypt's recognition of Israel." Egypt's 1979 peace agreement with Israel also led to tense relations and Iran ceased direct flights to Egypt. Egypt is the only Arab country without an embassy in Iran. Contentious issues include Egypt's signing of the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1979, its support for Iraq in Iran's eight-year conflict, the Islamic Republic's hailing of
Khalid Islambouli Khalid Ahmed Showky El Islambouli ( ar, خالد أحمد شوقي الإسلامبولي, ) (15 January 1955 – 15 April 1982) was an Egyptian army officer who planned and participated in the Assassination of Anwar Sadat, assassination of Egyp ...
, the President Anwar Sadat's assassin as a religious hero, seeing as there was both a street and mural named after him (however, the honouree was changed to
Muhammad al-Durrah On 30 September 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada, 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah () was killed in the Gaza Strip during widespread protests and riots across the Palestinian territories against Israeli military occupation. Jama ...
, the 12-year-old
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
boy shot and killed during the outset of the Second Intifada), and close Egyptian relations with the United States, and most of the Western European countries. In 2007, relations between the two countries thawed in the fields of diplomacy and economic trade, only to retreat during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict when Iranian and Egyptian politicians exchanged blames over inaction towards the escalation of the conflict. It was not until the official resignation of President
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
in February 2011 that relations started to improve significantly. In April 2012, Iran appointed an ambassador to Egypt. Soon after
Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
and subsequent overthrow that removed
Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, the interim Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Nabil Fahmy Nabil Fahmi (born 5 January 1951) is an Egyptian diplomat and politician who served in the government of Egypt as minister of foreign affairs from June 2013 to July 2014. Early life and education Nabil Fahmi was born in New York on 5 January 19 ...
announced that Egypt seeks stable and positive ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2015, Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
stated that Egypt has no relations with Iran on the Egyptian Extra News channel.


Bilateral visits

Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and the appointment of ambassadors after nearly 30 years, Egyptian President
Mohammed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
for the Non-Aligned Movement summit on 30 August 2012, where it handed over the rotating presidency to Iran. Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also visited Egypt in February 2013, making him the first Iranian president to travel to Egypt since the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
.


See also

* '' Hekmat''


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Egypt-Iran relations