Egypt opposes military action against Iran

Sep 19, 2007, 10:32 GMT

Cairo - Egypt opposes any military action or a recourse to violence in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul-Ghait said Wednesday.

Abul-Ghait said Egypt was in favour of resolving the nuclear standoff through negotiations that would concede Iran's right to the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes in accordance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

The minister was speaking before leaving for New York where he is to attend the UN General Assembly meetings.

Egypt had announced Tuesday it would hold talks on ministerial level with Iran to resume full diplomatic ties.

Tehran severed diplomatic ties with Cairo in 1980 to protest against the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979.

The rift between the two countries deepened when Iran named a Tehran street after one of the assassins who killed former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in October 1980. But Tehran has recently renamed the street in a friendly gesture towards Cairo.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Cairo on Tuesday with Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials over bilateral ties and regional issues.

Egypt - along with Saudi Arabia and Jordan - is concerned over Iran's increasingly influential role in Palestinian and Lebanese internal politics. Tehran's alleged meddling in Iraqi affairs has also been sparking fears in Cairo.

Reflecting those concerns, Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak said last year Shiite Arabs were more loyal to Iran than to their own countries. His comments angered Shiites throughout the Middle East.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last May his country was ready to revive ties with Egypt.