Egypt's Mubarak Meets Top Iranian Official As Ties Improve

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Cairo - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak met Thursday with Ali Akbar Natik Nuri, top advisor of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a further indication that severed ties may be soon resumed. "There are economic relations between both countries, which are acceptable. But we want our political ties to be better and at a higher level," Nuri said after talks with Mubarak.

The speaker of Iranian parliament, Gholam Hadad, met Mubarak Wednesday and equally hoped for stronger ties and spoke about improving relations, which were cut off by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.

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The main reason for the decades-long animosity is Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Cairo also gave sanctuary to the deposed Shah of Iran, a move that angered Tehran.

The officials' visit is seen as another indication of a thaw in bilateral relations. Officials from both countries have recently exchanged visits, crowned with a visit to Egypt by Ali Larijani, the former Iranian nuclear negotiator, in December.

A landmark phone call between Presidents Mubarak and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week gave more strength to the possibility of an imminent resumption of ties.

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