Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Egypt last week as part of a tour of Arab capitals.

As the world awaits Israel’s response to Iran’s launch of missiles against Israel earlier this month, the aim of the trip, says former deputy to Egypt’s foreign minister Mohamed Hegazi, was to send a message to the US administration — as the only power in a position to put pressure on Israel — about the consequences should Israel’s response be disproportionate.

The Iranian missiles against Israel were launched in retaliation for Israeli escalation in its multifront conflict which has included indiscriminate bombing alongside targeted assassinations, including of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Regional dynamics — including the war on Gaza and Lebanon, the return of Syria to the Arab League, the improvement in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the thaw in relations between Turkey and Egypt — are bringing Egypt and Iran closer, noted a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The de-escalation of tensions in the Gulf and Saudi-Iranian reconciliation have created an atmosphere conducive to a degree of Iranian-Egyptian rapprochement,” he said.

While in Cairo, Araghchi met President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. While both paid lip service to the importance of enhancing bilateral relations, their focus was on the war on Gaza, recent developments in Lebanon and their impact on the region. Al-Sisi repeated Egypt’s call to halt any escalation in order to prevent a full-scale regional war.

Araghchi’s meeting with President Al-Sisi underlined Cairo’s determination to cooperate with regional and international parties to try and de-escalate an increasingly dangerous situation, says Hegazi, while “Tehran, for its part, realises and appreciates Egypt’s role and efforts to control the situation and avoid any escalation.”

Araghchi’s visit to Egypt is the first by a high-ranking Iranian official in over a decade. He also visited Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Turkey and Oman. Cairo was the second leg of the regional tour, following Amman, and before Araghchi headed to Turkey.

According to the diplomat, the trip foregrounds Tehran’s determination to explain its position and underline its unwillingness to be seen as the catalyst for regional conflict.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attended Araghchi’s meeting with Al-Sisi. The two diplomats also held a separate meeting during which they exchanged views on the latest regional developments and dangers arising from the continued Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon.

They highlighted the need for joint efforts by regional countries and the international community to protect security in the region and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and Lebanon.

The visit, says Hegazi, allowed Tehran to present its vision of diplomatic moves which should include the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 which calls for the deployment of the Lebanese army along its borders with Israel, and possibly to discuss the future role of Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Egyptian-Iranian relations have seen significant improvement in recent years, following decades of strained ties which began with the Islamic Revolution in Iran and Egypt’s signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. While ties were resumed 11 years later, it was on the level of chargé d’affaires.

The thaw began when Al-Sisi and Iran’s foreign minister spoke on the sidelines of an international conference in Baghdad in August 2021. This was followed by meetings between intelligence officials from Egypt and Iran in November 2022. Meetings between the intelligence agencies of both countries followed the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia last year, and Al-Sisi meeting with Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic extraordinary summit hosted by Saudi Arabia.

Since then, telephone contacts at both the presidential and ministerial level have multiplied, focused on the situation in Gaza and fears of escalation.

Abdelatty travelled to Tehran in July to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president. In September, he met Araghchi in New York during the UN General Assembly when they discussed the deteriorating situation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 24 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly