Iran and Egypt poised to restore ties after 25 years
By Justin Huggler in Jerusalem
07 January 2004

There were signs of a dramatic thaw in diplomatic relations around the Middle East yesterday. It appeared that Iran and Egypt might restore ties for the first time in 25 years - a development which could give the US a new channel to Iran, which was included in President George Bush's "axis of evil".

There were also unconfirmed reports of a possible thaw between Israel and Libya, following Libya's announcement last month that it was abandoning its programmes of weapons of mass destruction.

Israeli media reported a meeting about two weeks ago in Paris between the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's diplomatic team and an unnamed Arab diplomat, to establish a channel of communication with Tripoli.

The Iranian Vice-President, Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, said that the restoration of ties with Egypt was a done deal. "The two countries have decided to restore ties," he said. "It's a definite move and right now they are making the preparations."

But the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Maher, said that the announcement from Tehran was premature. "When a decision is taken, it will be announced. There is no official announcement from anywhere," he said.

Iran severed ties with Egypt soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 - in which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power - in reaction to Egypt's 1978 peace deal with Israel. Iran has no relations with Israel or the US, but does have relations with several European countries, including Britain, with which it recently restored full ties.

The West is hoping that the restoration of ties between Iran and Egypt will aid the hunt for fugitive al-Qa'ida leaders.

If claims by Western intelligence agencies that Saif al-Adel, said to be Osama bin Laden's former security chief, is in Iran are true, there are hopes that the Iranians may hand him over to Egypt because he is an Egyptian national.

The sudden thaw may be a case of earthquake diplomacy. It worked for Greece and Turkey, which set aside decades of animosity after Greece sent aid to help the victims of the Turkish earthquake in 1999. Egypt sent aid to Iran after the devastating earthquake in Bam last month. But Iran has been making moves to improve its relations with the Arab world in recent weeks, and the earthquake may have provided an opportunity as much as anything.

The first move from Iran yesterday was the announcement that Tehran's Khaled Islambouli street had been renamed. Islambouli was the Egyptian army lieutenant who assassinated President Anwar Sadat, the author of the peace deal with Israel, in 1981 - shooting him dead at a military parade.

Sadat's memory is revered by many in Egypt, and Cairo has long demanded that the street be renamed before it would consider restoring ties.

A giant mural of Islambouli, which will presumably now be removed, stares down onto the street, which has been renamed Intifada street, in honour of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

Reports of a thaw between Israel and Libya were more tentative. The Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reported that the Paris meeting between Ron Prosor, the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's diplomatic team, and an Arab diplomat, had been approved by the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. "European diplomatic sources" were quoted as saying that Libyan and Israeli officials met in Vienna last Friday in the presence of an American diplomat.