Foreign ministers of Iran and Egypt have held a new phone conversation to discuss efforts to expand relations between the two countries as well as the situation in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Hossein Amirabdollahian and Sameh Shoukry spoke over the phone on Sunday evening, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
The two ministers reviewed “positive developments” that have taken place in bilateral relations between Iran and Egypt in recent months, said the statement, adding that the two discussed solutions for the expansion of relations based on the results of a meeting between them in Geneva in late February and according to the will of the political leaders of the two countries.
They reiterated that a meeting between the presidents of Iran and Egypt in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November was an important step in efforts to elevate bilateral ties and agreed that Tehran and Cairo should maintain contacts and meetings in the future.
Iran and Egypt have established contacts over the past months in a bid to restore diplomatic relations that were cut months after Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The statement said Amirabdollahian and Shoukry also discussed in their phone call the latest developments with regard to the Israeli aggression on Gaza while expressing concerns about the continued killing of women and children in the narrow strip of land.
They reiterated the need for further diplomatic and political efforts to force an end to Israel’s “insane attacks” on Gaza and said that a recent United Nations Security Council resolution should be implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach people in all parts of Gaza.
The two top diplomats also renewed their opposition to any plan to forcibly displace the Palestinians from Gaza and urged international organizations to adopt effective measures to prevent an Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza where more than a million people have sought refuge from Israel’s attacks on other parts of the enclave.
During the phone call, Amirabdollahian touched upon visits earlier this week to Tehran by leaders of Palestinian resistance movements Hamas and the Islamic Jihad as he emphasized the significant role played by the resistance in the anti-Israeli war in Gaza.
