Saturday, September 22, 2007

Egypt, Iran, & the US


This a quick thought, intended not to be elaborative ... What is the secret behind the recent rising Egyptian-Iranian relations; weren’t these relations cut since the 1979 revolution? Wasn't Egypt adopting almost the US anti-Iranian stance since then?.. why is it now that the Egyptian government mobilizing on the social and official levels towards melting the long standing ice between the pro-US Egypt and the Islamic anti-US Republic of Iran?

Two days ago, in a mosque that seems to be government monitored, an Egyptian Sheikh went on a public speech to say that the Iranian nuclear program is not that bad; Actually, i believe i heard him saying that Egypt should get one too! Sure, it was mentioned in a religious context.

On Sep 18, 2007, Reuters reported: "Egypt and Iran held rare talks at senior official level in Cairo on Tuesday and Egypt said dialogue would continue on restoring full diplomatic relations, broken off after the Iranian revolution in 1979."

Now, social and official levels, why? & this time?

For several reasons, Egypt has been increasingly pressured on several issues recently by the US, tension somehow is gradually rising, yet surface is still static.

The Egyptian-Iranian relations are played by the Cairo government as a card that would make the US use more carrots than sticks with Egypt. Mubarak's regime is playing it in the classic Cold-War-style.

Until now, Washington doesn't seem to take Mubarak seriously ... Maybe Bush is thinking of solving it the other way round through dealing with Iran first, which would automatically solve many regional US problems, including that of the Egyptian regime. However, Egypt can't play this game for long; Egypt has more interests with the US after all.

For now, I would keep watching ... Intensive diplomatic moves are expected to be done soon, stay tuned!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice article, but the problem is that I'm poor in English!!
But I'd understood that one!!

Thanks for putting a link for me!!

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