26 July - 1 August 2001
Issue No.544
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 26 July - 1 August 2001 Issue No.544 |
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More than a street name
Talk of a resumption of full diplomatic ties between Egypt and Iran will probably remain for now just that -- talk, writes Tarek Atia
Over the past few weeks there has been an extraordinary flurry of statements originating from Iranian political and diplomatic sources indicating Iran's desire to resume full diplomatic ties with Egypt. Those ties were cut off by Iran after Egypt signed the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and were exacerbated by the late President Anwar El-Sadat's hosting of the deposed Shah of Iran.
For the past few years, however, both countries have been gingerly tiptoeing towards a restoration of relations. Today, Egypt has a diplomatic presence in Tehran, and vice versa. Trade delegations from both sides have exchanged visits and conferences between intellectuals and politicians have also been held. This week, a symposium on Egyptian-Iranian relations co-sponsored by high-level think-tanks from both countries was held in Cairo.
The Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies (CPSS), which hosted the symposium, recently conducted an opinion poll indicating that 82 per cent of the Egyptian population are in favour of a boost in relations with Iran. Restricted to intellectuals, the figure jumps up to a whopping 95-97 per cent. Clearly, there is a willingness at both official and unofficial levels in Egypt to improve relations.
So why just talk? The problem appears to come from uncertainty on the Iranian side. "There are a lot of obstacles," explained an Egyptian diplomatic source. "The problem in Iran is the question of who holds the power. The power struggle is not clear." What is clear is that President Mohamed Khatami often faces strong opposition from Iran's myriad state bodies, mostly controlled by conservative clerics, to any moves leading to more friendly ties with Egypt.
A major symbolic hurdle lies in Tehran's Khaled El-Islambouli Street, named after the Islamist assassin who gunned down President El-Sadat in 1981. Countless reports have appeared in the press over the past few years claiming the Iranians were prepared to rename the street. First it was to be called Mohamed Abdou Street, after the renowned Egyptian Islamic scholar; more recently, the name Mohamed Al-Dorra, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot and killed by Israeli forces, was suggested. Until now, however, the street remains Khaled El- Islambouli Street. To make things worse, three giant murals of El-Islambouli have been put up in various places in Iran.
"There's confusion as to whose decision [renaming the street] is," one diplomat explained. Two days after the most recent announcement of a movement towards a relations thaw, there was a negative reaction within Iran. Extremely vocal factions strongly oppose any resumption of ties with Egypt because of its peace with Israel, among other things. According to the diplomatic source, "President Khatami's priorities are still not clear. Maybe he doesn't want to throw the internal situation off balance by improving relations with Egypt."
Street names are a symbolic problem, but the political rifts between the two countries go far deeper. "Iran does not appreciate the peace process," says the source. At the same time, Iran's agreements with Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who both have strong pacts with either Israel or the US, contradict stated reasons for not improving relations with Egypt, the diplomat argued.
Another major sticking point is security in the Gulf region. Iran has stressed that it does not appreciate Egypt's security interests in that region. In fact, that subject was a major point of friction at this week's Cairo symposium. "Iran's position is that Egypt should have nothing to do with that area," one of the speakers remarked, "and Egypt disagrees."
Abdel-Moneim Said, head of the CPSS, argued that "it's not true that regional security should only be the prerogative of the countries in the region. Iranian military exercises definitely concern Egypt." Said said that it was "important that both countries have the confidence to deal with this security issue in a way that ends up reducing foreign influence there."
The highest ranking member of the Iranian delegation, Assistant Foreign Minister Sadiq Kharazzi -- who met with presidential adviser Osama El-Baz on Sunday -- noted that there is "historical evidence of outside attempts to attack the Islamic world through this very important and sensitive area." He added that "outside troops are the ones causing the problem."
In fact, much of the discussion, at least from the Iranian side, reflected Iran's desire to establish a stronger Islamic bloc to counter-balance the power of the West. Egyptians keen on placing the restoration of relations on the fast-track for similar reasons argue that Egypt does not have the political will to restore relations with Iran because it fears that its relations with the United States may suffer. They point to the improvement of Iranian relations with Saudi Arabia, despite the Sunni-Shi'i divide that separates them. An Egyptian diplomatic source counters that an Egyptian-Iranian détente would not affect Egyptian-American relations. "We didn't see that happen with Saudi Arabia when it improved relations with Iran."
Actually, the diplomat argued, Egypt has not seen a reciprocal gesture from Iran in response to the three or four major positive steps Egypt has taken towards the Islamic republic in recent years. "We voted strongly against a resolution condemning Iranian human rights violations at the Geneva conference, and we helped ease Iran's entry into the WTO." Egypt also voted Iran into the G15 economic grouping of developing nations and President Mubarak's telephone call to Khatami after the G15 acceptance was a landmark in the rapprochement between the two states.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher has summed up the situation as follows: "The matter is deeper than just the name of a street -- that is just a part of a bigger situation. We've seen trends from Iran to improve relations, and we've seen the opposite of that. It's an Iranian-Iranian problem, more than an Egyptian-Iranian problem." He added: "There should be clear positions on their side, not ones that change every day. If we see that coming from their side, we are willing to sit down and talk." Maher reiterated as much this week, saying that Egypt was prepared to establish good relations with Iran as long as Tehran showed a sign of good faith, which has yet to happen.
Meanwhile, there has been movement on economic cooperation. With trade exchange standing at around $200 million per year -- mostly Iranian exports to Egypt -- most analysts agree that "Iran benefits more from better relations" in this respect. Much of the talk at the Cairo symposium focused on this aspect of relations. One Iranian speaker warned that "if political problems complicate a return to full economic relations between Egypt and Iran, then globalisation will negatively affect both nations."
For now, however, Cairo feels it has done enough. "We're waiting," the diplomatic source said. "We have no reason to push for it."
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