Amid the ongoing tension between Iran and Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has made an unusual visit to Jordan and Egypt.
Egypt holds a special place in the Arab world and the Middle East and against this backdrop, Iran’s political leaders have been trying to improve relations with Egypt for the past several years.
Iran and Egypt are not only the two most populous countries in the Middle East, but both these countries also have a different political and social identity compared to other countries in the Middle East.
Other countries in the Middle East came into existence in the 20th century, whereas Iran and Egypt have a high position in the Middle East due to being the center of ancient cultures.
The history of friendly relations between Iran and Egypt is full of disputes and agreements.
If you look especially at the last 150 years, it is known that while these two countries have come very close to each other on many matters at times, there has also been a time when they have also walked on the path of confrontation and enmity.
Diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt are currently limited, and despite several attempts in recent years, the two countries have not yet posted ambassadors to each other.
But the war in Gaza and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon have given Tehran and Cairo a new opportunity to improve relations.
Recent Iranian diplomatic activities clearly indicate a strong desire for compromise, at least on Iran’s part.
In fact, the purpose of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Egypt and other countries in the region was to discuss the ongoing tension between Iran and Israel.
During his visit, Abbas Araghchi went to Egypt and Jordan after Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt has a special advantage in all these activities, because not only does it share its border with Israel but it also has formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
In addition, Egypt has also played an important role in the talks between Israel and Hamas.
A look at the history of relations between Iran and Egypt shows that despite geographical distances and serious problems, there were many reasons for friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
However, events at the regional and international level are affecting the relationship between these two countries.
Family ties
If we talk about the past, diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt could not be very strong due to the presence of the Ottoman Sultanate and later colonial powers like France and England in the region.
Egypt became a state of the Ottoman Sultanate in the early 16th century but it came under British occupation in the late 19th century.
In 1922, the British officially recognized Egypt’s independence but they refused to hand over control of foreign policy, military, Suez Canal and other centers of power in Egypt. During this period, the British strategy regarding Iran was different.
In Iran, he supported a military commander named Reza Shah, who seized a great deal of power in a military coup in 1921. Within five years, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar and crowned himself as the Pahlavi king.
Thus, in the immediate aftermath of World War I, Iran and Egypt were ruled by monarchs whose economic and political policies were more in line with the British monarchy than with the wishes or interests of their own people.
Reza Shah’s relationship with the Egyptian royal court took nearly two decades to fully develop.
When the Shah of Iran was looking for a bride for his eldest son, Crown Prince Mohammad Reza, he chose Fauzia, the sister of the Egyptian King Farouk.
And this choice brought great political and symbolic benefits to both Reza Shah and the Egyptian King Farouk.
This was an important step in giving legal basis to the Pahlavi family’s new monarchy, establishing ties with a royal family that had been in existence for a long time.
On the other hand, King Farouk, whose country was under the control of Western powers and who was seen as an incompetent puppet ruler in the Arab world, was fully aware of the benefits that this political marriage would bring to him as a ruler.
After the marriage of Iranian Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the Egyptian Princess Fawzia in 1939, both countries sent ambassadors to each other’s country for the first time in modern history.
Thus, Tehran and Cairo formally established full diplomatic relations.
This was a time when, against the backdrop of familial ties and the regional importance of both countries, this relationship seemed headed for a bright future.
The fall of King Farouk
Over time, Crown Prince Mohammad Reza’s marriage to Fauzia became a source of trouble and discomfort for the Iranian royal family.
Although the two countries had diplomatic relations during this period, Egypt was unable to play any role in shaping Reza Shah’s foreign policy.
Shah Farooq and his prime minister had very limited freedom in diplomatic decision-making.
Soon after Iran and Egypt established formal diplomatic relations, World War II broke out and both countries became tools for promoting the war policies of colonial powers, especially Britain.
After the war ended, both countries became part of a British-controlled Middle East system with little US or French influence.
While diplomatic relations between the two countries were not uncommon, there was never any conflict or hostility between them during this period.
The basic reason for this was that both Iran and Egypt were trying to bring about reforms to control poverty in their respective countries.
Apart from this, both countries were trying to regain control of their resources and important policies from the capitals of Europe.
This special phase in the relations between Iran and Egypt changed dramatically in 1952 when a group of military officers in Egypt overthrew the British-backed monarchy in the country and took over the country’s economy.
This event was later named the ‘Revolution of 1952’, after which King Farooq was forced to abdicate the throne and thus the nearly 150-year-old monarchy in Egypt was ended.
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Within three years of the end of the monarchy, Gamal Abdel Nasser took power in the newly established Republic of Egypt.
Egypt since then emerged as the flag bearer of Arab nationalism and democratic revolutions in the Middle East.
Soon after this, Iran also joined other monarchies like Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the anti-Egypt camp.
For Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Shah of Iran was not just another regional monarch but also a non-Arab monarch backed by the West.
Gamalal Abdel Nasser specifically targeted Iran in his Arab nationalist propaganda, accusing Iran of betraying Muslims by allying with Israel and building an army armed with American weapons.
Friendship of Anwar Sadat and the Shah of Iran
Gamalal Abdel Nasser faced many obstacles in furthering his political goals in the region and after a series of defeats in wars with Israel, he died suddenly in 1970.
His successor Anwar Sadat (who had accompanied Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1952 revolution) almost completely changed the key policies of his country.
Anwar Sadat extended a hand of friendship to Israel, tried to negotiate a settlement with the Muslim Brotherhood, and developed a close relationship with the Shah of Iran.
Initially based on the benefits of Iranian economic aid, relations progressed rapidly. During a visit to Tehran at that time, Anwar Sadat read out a few words in Persian in the presence of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which spoke of the historic friendship between the two countries.
He reminded the audience of the extensive ties between Iranians and Egyptians dating back to ancient civilizations.
He emphasized that the two countries were alike because of their shared history.
In official statements, the Shah of Iran and Anwar Sadat praised each other greatly, and did not hesitate to express their affection for each other in public.
In 1973, Egypt, with the support of other Arab countries, attacked Israel when Israel claimed the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, but was defeated in the initial days of the war.
After the war ended, Anwar Sadat adopted the path of diplomacy in establishing relations with Israel and he also got the full support of the Shah of Iran in this strategy.
According to American documents, when he went to Washington to meet American President Gerald Ford two years later, he told him that if people with extreme revolutionary ideas like Muammar Gaddafi succeed in politically destabilizing Saudi Arabia, then Iran and Egypt should take joint control over Saudi Arabia’s oil resources.
When Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was overthrown and he left his country permanently, Sadat adopted a brotherly attitude towards the former Shah of Iran.
Even during the Shah’s exile, Anwar Sadat always behaved with him as if he was still in power.
When the Shah of Iran’s biggest and most important supporter, the United States, refused to allow him to be treated in a New York City hospital despite his serious illness, it was Anwar Sadat who hosted him with open arms and respect until his death.
After Mohammad Reza Shah’s death, Anwar Sadat organized a grand state funeral for him, showing the world how much he personally loved the Shah.
Khalid Islambuli
The hostility of the Islamic revolutionaries who had overthrown the Shah in Iran to Anwar Sadat went beyond the matter of sheltering the Shah.
At the height of the Iranian Revolution, Sadat signed a peace agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin under the leadership of US President Jimmy Carter.
Soon after the Iranian Revolution, in March 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to officially recognise Israel and establish full diplomatic relations with it.
Anwar Sadat’s move caused a stir in the Middle East and serious questions began to be raised about Egypt’s status as an important leader in the Arab world.
Three years after signing the peace agreement with Israel, Sadat was assassinated by an Egyptian military officer named Khalid al-Islambuli.
Following this, widespread instability, political violence, the fear of armed Islamic revolution or even civil war engulfed the friend.
In a sharp response, the Egyptian army supported Sadat’s deputy Hosni Mubarak to seize power.
Relations between Iran and Egypt, already strained by the presence of the former Shah of Iran in Cairo and Sadat’s peace agreement with Israel, now turned into bitter hostility.
Iran used political propaganda to portray Khalid al-Islambuli, the assassin of Anwar Sadat, as a brave fighter and renamed a street in Tehran as ‘Martyr Khalid al-Islambuli Street’.
And this was the time when hostility between Egypt and Iran reached its peak.
Hosni Mubarak
Egypt supported Saddam Hussein at the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war and as tensions between the two countries grew, Egypt became one of Saddam Hussein’s key allies.
Egypt even supplied arms to Iraq for the war.
Open hostility against Iran and full support for Saddam Hussein enabled Egypt to build alliances, especially with Gulf countries.
This strategic cooperation with regional powers continued even after the Iran-Iraq war ended.
However, in the early 1990s, Egypt rose against Iraq when Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait and annex it.
However, this situation did not improve relations between Tehran and Cairo and Iran continued to accuse Egypt of being a puppet of Israel and the United States.
In the mid-1990s, Egypt strongly supported diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, while Iran strongly opposed peace talks initiated by the United States.
The Palestinians signed an agreement in Cairo on how to govern Gaza.
Egypt was also a strong supporter of the negotiations between Israel and Jordan that eventually led to full diplomatic relations between the two countries.
By that time, Egypt’s strong statements about recognizing Israel had lost much of their influence.
But what was happening in the Palestinian territories was inconsistent with those peace agreements.
In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the biggest supporter of peace with the Palestinians, was assassinated, and Israel changed course completely.
From that point on, Israel refused to recognize the 1967 borders of Palestine as per UN resolutions and denied the right of return to Palestinian refugees.
The twenty-first century then began not with much peace for Israel and the region, but with widespread Palestinian protests.
The new century
The early 21st century deepened the rift between Tehran and Cairo.
In Lebanon, Egypt supported Sunni groups against Hezbollah because it was not comfortable with the rise and influence of a powerful Shia Islamist organization.
After the US and Britain overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iran gained power and influence in Iraq, which Egypt did not like at all.
The then Iranian President Mohammad Khatami tried to restore diplomatic relations with Egypt, and the two countries were able to restore diplomatic relations to some extent after a long time. But these contacts did not yield any concrete results.
The rift between Iran and Egypt deepened again in 2006 when Israel bombed Lebanon and Hezbollah targets for more than a month.
During the war, Egypt, like Saudi Arabia, criticized Hezbollah, but two years later the two countries were again on opposing sides in the war in Gaza.
When images of hundreds of thousands of Iranians protesting the results of a presidential election were shown around the world in 2009, Egyptian state television repeatedly showed the images and accused the Iranian government of suppressing unarmed demonstrators with violence.
The Iranian government survived the mass protests that year, but less than two years later similar uprisings occurred across much of the Arab world.
After Hosni Mubarak was ousted, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in a vote.
In 2011, Morsi visited Tehran to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Two years later, Mohammad Ahmadinejad visited Cairo to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
But soon after, following widespread protests, the Egyptian military ousted Mursi’s government and Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took power.
In the years that followed, Sisi became increasingly allied with Saudi Arabia.
It may be recalled that Saudi Arabia, under Mohammed bin Salman, radically altered its foreign policy and sought to establish itself as a regional power to counter the rise of Iran.
A new era
Though Iran’s efforts, including the decision to rename Khaled al-Islambooli Street in Tehran, did not result in reconciliation with Egypt, Tehran’s strategy for reducing tensions with Cairo did not change much.
Whether it is Egypt’s unflinching support to Mohammed bin Salman during the Iran-Saudi disputes or Israel’s massive efforts to isolate Palestinian supporters in the region, Iran has always sought to manage its tensions with Cairo.
Egypt has been at the top of the list of key countries participating in the Israel-Palestine talks.
With its unusual geographical location and large population, it has always been a highly profitable economic and political partner for Iran.
Now tensions between Iran and Israel have reached unusual levels.
In such a situation, Iran has requested Egypt that in view of the recent tensions and possible future disputes, if not to ally with Iran, then at least not join the ranks of Iran’s enemies.
Iranian politicians and state media are trying their best to mold the current hostility and tensions in the region as part of an anti-Israel policy.
He claims that Iran’s essential foreign policy does not involve any hostility or competition with regional countries and that Israel is the “real enemy” of Iran and other Middle East countries.
Sisi and Egypt’s military leaders, who depend heavily on US funding, will find it difficult to establish relations with Iran as usual.
Differences remain between the two countries, including their different views on groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The situation in Lebanon, the Houthi government in Yemen, Syria’s civil war, the role of Bashar al-Assad and developments in Iraq are also obstacles to bilateral relations.
This is why the prospect of an improvement in relations and an end to more than four decades of hostility and competition is uncertain for both Iran and Egypt, despite diplomatic ties.
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