Top Iran envoy's Cairo visit may signal thaw to long frozen ties

The Iranian Foreign Minister’s recent visit to Cairo could signal progress toward healing one of the explosive region's deepest rifts, which has lingered from the Iranian Revolution and Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

The relationship between the Sunni Muslim heavyweight and the Shi'ite theocracy has been in a deep freeze ever since.

Following Araghchi’s June 2 meeting with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the top Iranian envoy himself wrote in an Arabic post on X that diplomacy between Iran and Egypt had entered a new phase.

“The level of interaction and political cooperation, and most importantly, the level of trust and confidence in the relations between the two countries, is unprecedented.”

In a diplomatically worded but significant statement, the Egyptian presidency said sides had emphasized “the importance of pursuing the current path to explore prospects for further advancing the two countries’ relations.”

Egyptian media similarly adopted an optimistic tone, with Egypt Today describing Araghchi’s visit as “one of the most visible signs of rapprochement” and noting it could signal “potential shifts in regional alliances and cooperation.”

What might resumed relations mean?

Egypt is a close US ally and maintains official relations with Israel. For Iran, mending the 45-year rift with Egypt could signal a softening of its revolutionary-era, anti-American posture.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously called for the Egyptian people to rise up and overthrow Anwar Sadat after he normalized ties with Israel.

It would also send a strong message across the region that longstanding hostilities and rivalries can give way to cooperation.

Cairo, whose influence in the Arab world is much diminished following the quashing of Arab Spring protests and ongoing economic challenges—could bolster its image as a leading Arab power by positioning itself as an interlocutor between Iran and both Western and Arab nations.

Arab states in the Persian Gulf have taken Egypt's mantle of regional leadership following the unrest starting in 2011, but while all have a testy relationship with Tehran but only Cairo has not revived diplomatic ties or reopened its embassy in Iran.

The timing of Araghchi’s visit with that of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi—leading to a trilateral meeting—may be an indication of Egypt’s intent to play a mediating role in the Iranian nuclear file.

How did relations break down?

Tehran and Cairo have not had full diplomatic relations since 1979, when Iran’s Islamic Revolution ousted the Shah.

Egypt’s decision to host Iran's exiled monarch—who died and was buried in Cairo in 1980—sparked Iranian anger.

That same year, Iran officially cut ties with Egypt after it became the first Arab country to recognize Israel by signing the Camp David Accords.

Relations deteriorated further when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Islamist army officer Khaled Al-Islambouli.

In a controversial move, Iran named a street in Tehran after Islambouli—an act Egypt has long viewed as a profound insult.

Despite the hostility, the two countries agreed in the early 1990s to restore diplomatic relations at the level of chargé d'affaires—a status that has remained in place for more than three decades.

What are the obstacles to full resumption of diplomatic relations?

Iran’s strong opposition to the Camp David treaty and its revolutionary posture in the post-1979 era set the foundation for decades-long rift with Egypt.

While successive governments have considered changing the street’s name as a goodwill gesture, hardliners have repeatedly blocked such efforts.

Though there have been several high-level encounters between Iranian and Egyptian officials since 2012, most have occurred on the sidelines of international or regional summits.

In August 2012, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi made a landmark visit to Tehran to hand over the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit to Iran.

It was the first visit by an Egyptian head of state to Iran since 1979 and marked a sharp departure from the policies of Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

That visit was followed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s trip to Cairo in February 2013 to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit—another rare show of diplomacy between the two sides.

Fast forward to 2023, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ordered steps to improve ties with Cairo. Later that year, in November, he met al-Sisi during the Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh.

In December 2024, Raisi’s successor, President Masoud Pezeshkian, visited Cairo at al-Sisi's invitation to attend the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation summit. During the visit, Pezeshkian held meetings with al-Sisi and other top Egyptian officials.

Accompanying him was Araghchi, who has since made three subsequent visits to Cairo.