Theological and geopolitical differences mark Ahmadinejad’s historic visit to Egypt

By Samira Arabi

Morocco News Tribune

Agadir, Morocco — Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Egypt to take part in a summit in Egypt this week on first trip to the country by Iranian head of state since 1979.

“Ahmadinejad’s visit to Cairo will be the first for an Iranian president since the 1979 Iranian revolution ruptured diplomatic ties between the two most populous countries in the Middle East,” Reuters reported.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Egyptian counterpart Mohammad Mursi attended a first round of talks at Cairo Airport’s VIP hall minutes after Ahmadinejad’s arrival in the Egyptian capital, Iranian Fars agency said.

“During their meeting, Ahmadinejad and Sheikh al-Tayyeb will discuss Islamic, Arab and international issues as well as Al-Azhar’s role at both local and regional levels,” added the agency.

On the other hand, Ahram English said in their website “on first trip to the country by Iranian head of state since 1979, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is kissed by his Egyptian counterpart upon arrival and rebuked by head of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar”.

“Mursi, a member of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, kissed Ahmadinejad after he landed at Cairo airport and gave him a red carpet reception with military honours. Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries. But the Shi’ite Iranian leader received a stiff rebuke when he met Egypt’s leading Sunni Muslim scholar later at Cairo’s historic al-Azhar mosque and university,” added the website.

A statement from al-Azhar said that Iran should refrain from interfering in Gulf Arab states, to recognize Bahrain as a “sisterly Arab nation” and rejected the extension of Shi’ite Muslim influence in Sunni countries,”

Aljazeera reported on Mohammed Amr Kamel, the Egyptian foreign minister, as saying on Tuesday that “Egypt’s relationship with Iran will never come at the expense of Gulf nations”.