TEHRAN – Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has tacitly urged Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing.

“Under the current conditions that Gaza is facing many problems we hope that Egypt effectively acts in resolving these problems,” Larijani said in a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit on Monday.
The Egyptian government has come under pressure by Muslims to open its border with the Gaza Strip which is under the crippling Israeli siege.
Larijani also highlighted the importance of unity among the Palestinian groups, saying Islamic countries should lay the ground for such a unity among Palestinians.
The Egyptian foreign minister stated that the dissention among the Palestinian groupings should be settled as soon as possible.
Regional Islamic states have said that bitter rivalry between Fatah and Hamas will only benefit Israel.
Egypt has so far hosted several rounds of talks between Hamas and Fatah with little success.
Cairo, Tehran pursue the same goal in Gaza
The Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, has said that Iran and Egypt pursue the same objective in the Gaza Strip.
“On the Palestine issue, we (Egypt) and you (Iran) share the same goal and that is helping the Palestinian people to achieve their objectives,” Suleiman said in a separate meeting with Larijani on Monday.
Soleiman added that there may be some differences between the two countries but “they are resolvable through dialogue”.
“Iran and Egypt share many commonalities and if there are any differences they are not great but minor,” he noted.
The Egyptian intelligence chief emphasized that Cairo is ready to broadly expand its economic and cultural ties with Tehran.
Larijani, for his part, stated that Iran and Egypt as two important countries with rich civilizations play an important role in regional stability.
He added an expansion of cultural and economic ties between the two nations is very important.
Aboul Gheit also emphasized that relations between Tehran and Cairo should be strengthened.