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| Iran |
| Presidents of Egypt, Iran hold first summit in 24 years |
| 2003-12-10 |
| Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami went into talks in Geneva, the first such high-level meeting in 24 years. Mubarak was met by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi as he arrived for the talks at a hotel in Geneva, where the leaders were attending a UN conference on information technology. "How ya been, Hosni?" "Long time no see, Mo." The Mubarak-Khatami talks will be the first meeting at this level since Egypt and Iran broke diplomatic ties in 1980 after the 1979 Iranian revolution toppled Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, who received asylum in Cairo. "It is a very important meeting and there are a number of bilateral and regional issues to be discussed," Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said in Tehran. "The weather, Khatami’s arthritis, Mubarak’s granddaughter’s dance recital, you know, the usual." Neither side disclosed what would be discussed. But we can guess. "I consider this meeting, which is the first between the presidents of the two countries, as very important," Abtahi said. "Cooperation between these two great Islamic countries is important for the region and the Islamic world." But Abtahi declined to speculate on whether the meeting could lead to the resumption of diplomatic ties. "I can say no more." "It depends on the climate of the talks," a top official in Tehran said, Egypt angered Iran with its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and its granting of asylum to the shah following the revolution, and the presence of the shah’s tomb in Cairo still rankles with Iranians. "Bloody Egyptian infidel dogs." Iran angered Egypt by naming a Tehran street after the assassin of Mubarak’s predecessor Anwar Sadat, and Mubarak said in January that ties could not be normalized as long as Tehran gave sanctuary to "Egyptian terrorists". "Bloody Iranian infidel dogs, you’re only supposed to harbor non-Egyptian terrorists." Ties were particularly bad while Egypt supported Iraq during its 1980-1988 war with Iran. However, trade and other ties have been improving since the 1990s.In June 2000, Mubarak telephoned Khatami, in the first such high-level discussion in 20 years, to congratulate him on Iran’s admission to the G-15 group of nations, membership which Egypt supported. Last week, Amr Mussa, the secretary of the Cairo-based Arab League, welcomed the prospect of non-Arab Iran joining the organization as an observer after receiving such a request from Tehran. |
| Posted by:seafarious |