Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Efforts to normalize the relations between Iran and Egypt seem to be failing to yield the expected result. Recently, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi criticized Egyptian officials over what is deemed as indifference to his request to visit Palestine, IRNA news agency reported.

Salehi said that despite repeated requests, there still has not been a response on the matter from Egypt.

A few weeks ago, during the Israeli strike on Gaza Strip, Salehi said he is ready to visit Palestine to express his support and solidarity with the Palestinian people, adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its support for Palestine.

Taking into account the fact that Gaza is blockaded as it is located by the Mediterranean Sea and the Israeli borders, the only available crossing into the Strip is from Egypt's Rafah city. Therefore, Tehran has been waiting for Cairo's response before a visit to the area.

On the sidelines of the Developing Eight Organization summit in Pakistan, Salehi spoke with Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Gandil and again voiced his request to visit Palestine.

Also, Egypt's Foreign Ministry rejected last week a visa request from Iranian filmmakers, who were expected to participate at the 35th Cairo International Film Festival, Iranian media reported.

Despite tensions between the two countries, they share membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Developing 8.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi made an historic first visit to Iran since the Islamic revolution for the 2012 Non-Aligned Movement summit on August 30, where Egypt handed over the rotating presidency to Iran.

Ties between Iran and Egypt -- among the largest and most influential countries in the Middle East -- were severed in 1980 following Iran's Islamic revolution and Egypt's recognition of Israel.

Contentious issues include Egypt's signing of the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1979, its support for Iraq in Iran's eight-year conflict and close Egyptian relations with the United States and most of the western European countries.

Another point in the deterioration of Iran-Egypt relations was reportedly Egypt's former president Anwar Sadat's receiving Iran's late Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who fled Iran following the revolution, while one of Tehran's streets is named after the man who assassinated Sadat during a military parade in 1981.

Besides, Iran's revolutionary rhetoric and presumed influence over the Gulf's Shiite population is believed to have pushed Egypt to create a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia.

After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005, the Iranian government continued efforts to normalize relations with Egypt. In 2007, Ahmadinejad said Tehran was determined to pursue normalization of its relations with the country.

Despite these gestures of friendship, some experts charge that Hosni Mubarak remained unprepared to pursue better relations with Iran. The Egyptian president enjoyed strong relations with the Gulf monarchies, especially the Saudis, and had built a strategic alliance with Iran's adversaries, the United States and Israel. For the Mubarak government, maintaining these connections was far more important than re-establishing diplomatic relations with Tehran, the experts believe.

Since Mubarak was toppled by a popular uprising there have been signs of warming between mainly Sunni Muslim Egypt and predominantly Shi'ite Iran.

Iran hailed Mohamed Morsi's victory at the Egyptian presidential election as an "Islamic awakening", hoping this would affect the relations between the two countries.

According to some experts, Iran's response to the Egyptian revolution has several potential motivations.

Some believe that after the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamists, Tehran hoped to bolster anti-Western sentiments among regional governments.

Second, analysts say Iran's anxious attempts to renew relations with Egypt may also be attributed in part to escalating pressure and international sanctions against Tehran. The U.S. and the EU have tightened sanctions on Iran, with particular focus on financial sectors and the oil industry. By re-establishing relations with Egypt, Iran may hope to win safe access to the Suez Canal and bypass the sanctions by opening a new market for its goods.

Finally, Iran might hope for alliance with Egypt over the Syrian conflict, as Iran is the only country in the region that supports Bashar al-Assad's regime, while the other regional governments take the side of the Syrian opposition.

However, it seems that the change of power does not affect the strained relations between Egypt and Iran.

Actually, former Egyptian president Mubarak was also a Western-backed leader. Then what was the reason for replacing him with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement (a bloc which won the Egyptian elections this June)?

According to some experts, the change of power serves to win the trust of the Muslim people and meanwhile to establish a government supported by Western powers.

Besides, President Morsi himself is said to be striving to reassure Egypt's Western allies, wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, and Gulf states that are deeply concerned of Iranian influence.

According to Al Jazeera, Richard Murphy, a former US Assistant Secretary of State, said earlier that the U.S. is unlikely to welcome potential restoration of Egyptian-Iranian relations.

Murphy reportedly said America has tried along with Europe to forge a system of isolation of Iran and avoid giving any prestige to the regime in Iran.

Besides, Morsi's speech at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran criticizing Bashar al-Assad's regime is further evidence that the Egyptian president has decided to side with Egypt's Arab and Western partners over the Syria conflict, analysts say.

It is also important to take into consideration the fact that Egypt's Islamist movement is predominantly Sunni, as are its Arab allies in the Gulf who share an interest in countering Shiite and Iranian influence in the region. Egypt fears close relations with Iran would increase Shiite influence and challenge Egypt's Sunni character.

Considering the above-mentioned, it should be expected that Egypt's regional and foreign policy will not change swiftly towards Iran, as it prioritizes its strategic relationship with Western countries and Arab states.