Strategic Council Online-Opinion: After the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia created a wave of positive developments in the region and encouraged other Persian Gulf countries to resume or strengthen ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, now the news indicates that Iran and Egypt with the mediation of Iraq are trying to resume diplomatic relations. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri—University scholar
Based on this, the two countries, whose relations have been severed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, may be able to once again take steps towards cooperation with each other through the mediation of Baghdad. But in what ways are Iran and the region of West Asia and the Persian Gulf important for Egypt, and why has this North African country expressed its desire to improve relations with Iran just shortly after the improvement of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia?
Various reasons seem to have played a role in changing Egypt’s approach, some of which are mentioned here:
Economic factors
Egypt has more than 104 million people, whose industrial and agricultural sectors suffer from the problem of underdevelopment, and most of its foreign exchange earnings are obtained from the service and tourism sectors. As a result, the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukraine crisis were two severe crises that fundamentally affected Egypt’s sick economy; The coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented decrease in the income from tourism in Egypt.
Also, the war between Russia and Ukraine, which supply about 30% of the world’s wheat, has put Egypt in a difficult situation as the largest wheat importer. Based on this, attracting foreign capital and more tourists seem to be among the solutions to save Egypt’s economy from collapse. Therefore, the development of relations with the Persian Gulf countries, including Iran, is on the agenda of this country.
Political-security factors
Over the past forty years, issues such as the Palestine issue and the Camp David Agreement at the regional level, as well as the two countries’ different views on the structure governing the international system and its conditions and how to deal with the great powers (Egypt’s Westernization versus relative anti-Westernism Iran) at the international level have been among the factors that have caused the divergence between Iran and Egypt. Although many of these differences have persisted at the current stage and have even intensified due to the increase in tensions between Iran and the Zionist regime and the long-term suspension of the JCPOA, the improvement of Saudi Arabia’s relations with Iran has given the Egyptian authorities the option to develop and improve relations and focus on common points that are necessary to resolve regional issues despite some differences on regional and international issues.
On the other hand, despite Egypt’s historical claims to be the leader of the Islamic world, this country has distanced itself from this ideal for many years and is content to play a marginal role. In these years, it has been Saudi Arabia that has played a role in this field in the Arab world; As a result, to maintain its relative position in the Arab and Islamic world, Egypt tries to avoid unilateral movements and against the direction of Saudi Arabia.
Geopolitical factors
Iran and Egypt are two important regional countries on both sides of the Middle East region, which have many characteristics that make them similar to each other; Iran’s unique role in the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, and Egypt’s unique role in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. Based on this, Iran and Egypt, having a particular geopolitical position in the Middle East region, play an essential role in the security of this region so that the sphere of influence and strategic depth of these two countries are not limited to their borders.
As a result, from the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser until now, Egypt’s security considerations required that this country turns to the east, and one of the foundations of Egypt’s foreign policy has always been to focus on a region of the Arab world, which is called the “Arab Orient.” This geographical area includes all the countries of Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and six littoral states of the Persian Gulf. The Egyptian government is well aware of the fact that the Persian Gulf region is an area of influence for Iran, so this country, to maintain its economic, political and cultural, and religious interests in the Persian Gulf region, is seeking a more effective presence in this region and communication with all littoral states, especially Iran.
On the other hand, since Iran and Egypt dominate two strategic straits in the Middle East region, the gap between these two countries will reduce the functional authority of this geopolitical region. Therefore, it is natural for the parties to seek a common framework for developing bilateral relations.
The return of Syria to the arms of the Arab world
Although the Egyptian government supported the Syrian opposition at the beginning of the Syrian crisis and took a position against the Islamic Republic of Iran, now, after more than 12 years of this crisis and the Assad regime remains in power. With the readmission of Syria into the Arab League, Egyptian authorities think that they, like other counterparts in the Arab world, should admit their analytical error regarding the future of Syria and take the path of friendship with this country and its allies, including Iran.
Cultural-civilizational factors
Iran and Egypt are two history-making and civilization-building countries in West Asia and North Africa. Undoubtedly, these two countries have long been prominent as two great cultural powers in the history of humanity; The traces and evidence of the first serious connections between the two great civilizations of the ancient world, i.e., Iran and Egypt, are evident at the beginning of the second half of the first millennium BC and during the rule of the Achaemenids in Iran. In the present era, both countries are trying to restore their former civilizational-cultural position, creating an incentive to develop cooperation. In addition, the good relations between these two countries in the Islamic world as two big and important actors have always been important. Therefore, promoting relations between the two countries will benefit the two nations, the region, the Islamic world, and the sphere of Islamic civilization.
Based on this, it seems that although some existing differences between Iran and Egypt have not changed much at the current stage, the change in the diplomatic atmosphere governing the region after the improvement of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the preparation of conditions for the formation of a platform for cooperation and a kind of security order has encouraged the Egyptian government not to lag behind its regional rivals and to try to have an appropriate share in the new regional developments. A share that reminds us of the demands of this country to play a serious role in the Islamic world and can solve and organize some of the internal crises of this country.
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