Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Cairo on Thursday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his counterpart Badr Abdelatty. This was the first official visit to Egypt by a senior Iranian minister in a decade.
The president's palace said the meeting focused on regional developments, with al-Sisi reiterating Egypt's call to avoid the expansion of conflict and the need to halt escalation to prevent a full-scale regional war.
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Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (R) meets with Iran's Abbas Araghchi
(Photo: Khaled Desouki / AFP)
"Araqchi emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to explore prospects for mutual development of relations between the two countries," the statement added.
Araqchi arrived for "important talks with Egypt's high-ranking officials that will be held tomorrow," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X on Wednesday, after stops in countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Lebanon.
The Qatari Al Araby al Jadeed reported that the minister was preparing a visit by Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have generally been fraught in recent decades but the two countries have stepped up high-level diplomatic contacts since the eruption of the Gaza crisis last year as Egypt tried to play a mediating role. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty traveled to Tehran in July to attend the country's presidential inauguration.
The visit comes just one day after the announcement in Cairo that al Sisi decided to replace his long-time Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel who was an active participant in the mediation efforts to secure a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
IDF troops operate in Rafah
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Israeli officials said they were concerned about the move. Kamel who has been head General Intelligence agency since 2018, was a well-known and respected figure in Jerusalem who had strong ties to Israeli and American security officials. Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar met Kamel in Cairo earlier in the week.
Kamel who had recently asked to delegate some of his heavy workload after suffering health problems, according to reports, will be appointed an advisor to the president and is to be replaced by Major General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad who had previously been his deputy.
Rashad is not known in Israel and he is stepping into his new role at a time when Israeli-Egyptian relations are in crisis over the war in Gaza and the Israeli insistence to control the Gaza-Egypt border and the Philadelphi Corridor that runs along it.
Negotiations to bring a cease-fire in the Gaza war have also stalled and according to the Qatari prime minister, there has been no discussion with the parties to the conflict in over three weeks. "Basically in the last three to four weeks, there is no conversation or engagement at all, and we are just moving in the same circle with the silence from all parties," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.
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