TEHRAN— Iran’s top diplomat says that so far there have been no direct negotiations between Tehran and Cairo, but Iran has received some messages from Egypt.

“We have not had direct negotiations with the Egyptian side. Egypt is an important country in the Islamic world and the development of relations between Tehran and Cairo is in the interest of both nations,” Amir Abdollahian told the press before leaving Damascus. 

“We have not yet had a negotiation for the progress and development of relations directly with the Egyptian side, but some efforts are underway in order to revert Tehran Cairo relations back to normal,” the foreign minister elaborated. 

Amir Abdollahian stated, “We now have an office for protection of Iran’s interests in Cairo, and on the other hand, the other side has an office for protection of Egypt’s interests in Tehran. My explanation refers to the fact that Egypt is an important country in the Islamic world and we consider the natural and developing relations between Tehran and Cairo to benefit the two countries, two nations and the region.”

On Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced that concurrent with Tehran-Riyadh negotiations, talks are underway between Iran and Egypt as well as Iran and Jordan. 

Additionally, Hussein pointed out that Iran has come up with the idea of creating channels of communication with the Egyptians.

Iran-Syria joint economic commission to be formed soon

The chief diplomat also said his visit to Syria was in line with President Bashar Assad's recent visit to Tehran and his talks with the Iranian president. 

“Good progress was made in the implementation of some of the signed agreements, and it was decided that me and the Syrian foreign minister follow up the implementation of some items,” he added. 

He then informed the press that the heads of the Iran-Syria joint commissions are going to organize their meeting at the earliest time possible. 

“We had a conversation with Bashar Assad for more than two hours about various issues. One of our important missions at this point is to investigate the possibility of Turkey's special military operation in parts of Syria, which we discussed during my trip to Turkey a few days ago. Tehran is trying to resolve this crisis and the problem between the two countries through political means, and we reject resorting to war,” the chief diplomat stated. 

Amir Abdollahian then pointed out that Tehran and Damascus have agreed to activate all the commercial and economic agreements, as well as the tourism cooperation agreements that exist between the two countries.

“I hope that the results of this trip and the agreements that were made will be used for the benefit of the two nations,” he noted.