Tuesday, Feb 05, 2013
CAIRO (AFP)--Egypt won't improve its ties with Iran at the expense of undermining Gulf Arab security, Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said Tuesday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a landmark visit.
"The security of Gulf countries is a red line for Egypt," Amr said on the eve of an Islamic summit, in a bid to reassure Sunni Arab nations in the Gulf wary of a rapprochement with Shiite Iran. "Egypt's relations with any country, particularly Gulf nations, will not be made at the expense of their security."
Ahmadinejad arrived Tuesday in Cairo to attend the three-day Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit that opens Wednesday in the Egyptian capital.
His visit is the first by an Iranian president to Egypt since the 1979 revolution--the same year Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. A year later Iran severed ties with Egypt in protest at the agreement.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-02-13 1252GMT
