IRANIAN President Mohamed Khatami (l) receives Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in Tehran on Tuesday, a day before the start of the fourth Developing Eight Countries (D8) summit, designed to bring together leaders from majority Muslim states in the developing world to discuss economic policy.
Maher also met with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi and both agreed to keep up efforts to resume the full diplomatic ties they cut off 25 years ago. "Kharazi and Maher agreed on maintaining contacts and exchanging views in light of a complete restoration of relations between Tehran and Cairo," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Iran and Egypt share common hopes and worries, and the meeting of the two countries' presidents in Geneva was a positive sign of the two sides' intentions for bilateral cooperation," Maher said.
Last December, both countries agreed to work towards resuming full ties when the two leaders met on the fringes of the UN meeting in Geneva. The Iranian Foreign Ministry then announced it was inviting President Hosni Mubarak to the February summit. Iran lifted a key obstacle to a renewal of relations with Egypt when the Tehran city council agreed to rename a street bearing the name of Khaled El-Islambouli, who took part in the assassination of the late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat. However, because the street signs were not actually taken down, Mubarak turned down the invitation.
