According to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry and Abdollahian agreed on “the highest priority of a ceasefire and cessation of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.”

Both ministers voiced their rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip and any ground assault on the Palestinian city of Rafah.

The two sides also called for ensuring full and sustained access to humanitarian aid to the strip. They urged Israel to remove obstacles hindering aid delivery and comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Further, Shoukry voiced Egypt's deep concern about the spillover of the conflict into the region, especially in the southern Red Sea. He said such expansion in this crucial international waterway has grave effects on navigation and the flow of international trade.

The expansion of the conflict negatively affects regional and international efforts to resolve the crisis, Shoukry pointed out.

Israel continues to defy international calls, including last week’s UNSC resolution, to stop its aggression on Gaza, continuing its nonstop assaults.

Israel has killed at least 32,782 Palestinians and left 75,298 injured since 7 October.

Egyptian-Iranian relations
 

During the phone call, Shoukry and Abdollahian addressed Egyptian-Iranian relations following the meeting in Geneva in February.

The statement added that the two top diplomats agreed to maintain ongoing consultations to normalize the bilateral relations.

They also emphasized their dedication to principles of mutual respect and good neighbourliness.

The ministers expressed their determination to advance the interests of the Egyptian and Iranian peoples and promote regional stability.

Egyptian-Iranian relations have recently thawed after decades of rupture that dates back to the ousting of Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In May, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei affirmed that Tehran welcomes better diplomatic relations with Egypt, reported Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.

In November, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi discussed the bilateral relations in their first meeting on the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh.