Ashraf AboAraf
* President Gamal Abdel Nasser severed relations with Iran in 1959 due to the Shah of Iran’s recognition of Israel
* Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi was the one who persuaded President Sadat of signing Camp David Agreement despite Sadat’s hesitation
* A million Iranians look forward to visiting Egypt annually
* Farewell to the Ottoman Empire and Persian imperialism as the ‘Unity of Muslims’ is our priority
As the role of media to get points of view closer to each other and thus bridging gaps and thus strengthening bilateral relations, it was necessary to http://www.aldiplomasy.com with its Arabic and English versions to conduct a press interview with His Excellency the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially after the great diplomatic achievement of the return of diplomatic relations between Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia recently, under Chinese auspices, Omani and Iraqi faithful role with good intentions.
Accordingly, this success met with very pleasant reactions in the Islamic and Arab worlds, especially the Iranian and Saudi peoples. How much the Islamic and Arab peoples aspire for other Arabs and Muslims to follow the example of the Kingdom of the Two Holy Mosques in rejection and defiance of the unjust sanctions against the Iranian iron will for 44 years during which Iran became the main maker in the movement of the globe without exaggeration.
With the approval of His Excellency Ambassador Muhammad Hussein Sultani, thankfully, I do not say the head of the Iranian Interests Section in the Arab Republic of Egypt, but hopefully the Iranian ambassador to Cairo as a matter as the Egyptian and Iranian peoples look forward to restoring bilateral relations soon as the deep-rooted historical ties between Egypt and Iran are an eye-to witness and 44 years of suspending relations is so enough.
Q: Anyway, Egypt immediately congratulated the two countries on the historic reconciliation to restore and promote the solution of Middle East issues, especially the Palestinian issue, and that Egypt will take the matter with a great interest.. Comment?
One of the achievements and provisions of the Iranian Islamic Revolution is the unity of the Islamic world, and the proof is that the Islamic Republic of Iran did not take advantage of the position of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, whether by taking revenge on Iraq or allying with it against Kuwait despite the war imposed by Iraq against Iran for 8 years and the position of the Gulf towards our country.
The Arab countries enjoy enormous natural resources, on top of which is oil. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar possess two-thirds of the global strategic reserves of oil. This enables the Islamic countries to gain their independence and force the arrogant states to respect them by virtue of their urgent need for oil energy.
Q: For these enormous economic capabilities, is it not time to replace the name of the League of Arab States with the League of Islamic States, and it must allocate a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and the United Nations, a united financial currency, an Islamic world without borders, etc.?
Certainly, with these enormous energies, we can do that and thus eradicate the cancerous gland called Israel, the source of destabilization in the region. This is what Iran did against America, forcing it to leave the region defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. From here came the conviction of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to resume relations with Iran and soon, God willing, with the Arab Republic of Egypt as a harvest of the Chinese-Saudi summit and the other Chinese-Arab summit in November 2022. This, undoubtedly, is a strong blow to Israel, as stated by Egypt.
Q: There is no doubt that Iran has become a superpower due to its ability to break the siege of 44 years and still politically, militarily, economically and culturally, restoring the Russian veto to the international front and supporting the Palestinian Resistance 2012/2018/2016/2012 and the Lebanese 2006 against the Zionist enemy and defeating it every time.. For these reasons the normalized-countries with Israel (UAE / Bahrain / Sudan / Morocco) lately refused the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who mainly supervised normalization with these countries at the about 3 years ago..?!
This is a fact because the Arab countries are aware of Israel’s plots to destabilize the security of the region, with the exception of its security alone. However, Iran was able to dispel the theory of the “invincible army”, and this is what happened in Lebanon in 2006, in addition to Iran’s innocent intentions towards its Arabs and Islamic neighbors.
Q: The concluded statement of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers 159 called on both Iran and Turkey not to interfere in the internal affairs of others.. Isn’t it sound logic that League of Arab States (LAS) to invite both Iran and Turkey to always participate in the LAS’s Formues for all’s welfare instead of accusations with no matter true or false?!
We have repeatedly said and done on the ground, since the imposed Iraqi war on Iran, the Iranian policy respects the affairs of others in general, Arabs and Muslims in particular, as I indicated earlier, the Arab League, and everyone knows that Iran’s main concern is to curb the plots of the Americans and their minions, especially Israel.
Q: There is apprehension about the last Chinese-Saudi/Arab Summit, esp. USA and Israel rather than UN .. Why?
Iranian-Chinese relations are historical and the Silk Road is one of the evidences.. China should consider America’s defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq as we do not want to replace an greedy county with another greedy one in the region like America, but with a friend who respects the property of others and interference in the internal affairs of others is a red line.
* It is rumored that Iran is seeking to establish a navigational canal through the Syrian Latakia Gate, according to Western and American reports.. If so, this will affect the Suez canal negatively.. ?!
There is NO truth to this statement at all, at least now. We are facing a proxy war trying to sow discord between Iran and its neighbors such as Azerbaijan, Turkey and Egypt, etc. We have enough navigational arteries, such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and we have no problem at all with Egypt in this regard.
Q: Have Iranian relations declined with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, in contrast to the government of Dr. Hasan Rouhani?
We are a multi-ethnic society, we all enjoy a stable life, and we are keen on good relations with everyone, especially the neighboring countries. Azerbaijan was within the Iranian borders almost 100 years ago, as well as the Afghan city of Harat and some cities of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan that were separated from Iran due to Iran’s war with the Soviet Union. Now our issue is not borders, but an Islamic World Union without borders According to our common culture. We are against the idea of ethnicities, as Turkey did and formed the Council of Turkic Speaking Countries, and there was a meeting recently in Turkey, and this is one of the colors of the colonial countries. The concept of the Ottoman Empire and Persian imperialism no longer exists among the Iranians, but rather an interconnected Islamic unit, and we have no ambitions in the neighboring countries or the countries of the region. The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has mainly Turkish roots and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a historical sentence that he said to President Vladimir Putin: If you had started the current resistance against America at the time, the Soviet Union would not have disintegrated, and this is what frightens America and the West now.
Q: Iran was the first to challenge America by not dealing with the dollar in its relations with others, and countries have recently done that, such as Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.. Isn’t it time for the Islamic world to replace its currencies with a unified currency because it has enormous economic capabilities and about 2 billion Muslims?
We do not deal in dollars at the global level, Russia and China, for example, out of Iran’s keenness to break America’s unipolar thorn, as it is said, and there are discussions through international economic organizations such as Shanghai and BRICS to remove the dollar from international transactions. I have heard that Egypt has joined the BRICS organization, and therefore America is very concerned about these developments.
Q: What about the accusations of America and the West against Iran of supporting Russia with drones against Ukraine?
As I said before, it is a proxy war against Iran, and when I met with the Russian ambassador to Egypt, he told me that it is wrong to say Russia’s war against Ukraine, but rather Russia’s war against America and the West.. It is known that the Warsaw Pact was anti-NATO, but after the end of the Cold War it was agreed not to NATO expanded its borders, but the West violated and violated the agreement by trying to annex Ukraine to it, and from here the war broke out with the latter, with total support from the West. That is why it is not only Iran that supports the Russian position, but most of the Arab countries, especially the oil ones, which put the West in a dilemma due to its urgent need for Russian, Iranian and Arab oil.
Q: It is reported that the talks to restore bilateral relations between Egypt and Iran have been going on in full swing for years and may resume before two months..?
There is no doubt that the relations between Egypt and Iran are historical, and both of them have great interest regionally and internationally. There are many common denominators between the two countries, such as customs and traditions, in addition to the Islamic religion. However, the one behind the severing of relations between Egypt and Iran is the Zionist entity, and it is known that President Gamal Abdel Nasser cut off relations with Iran in 1959 for a period of 10 years due to the recognition of the State of Israel by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to satisfy the West. After the Iranian revolution of 1979, Imam Khomeini ordered the severance of relations with Egypt because of the Camp David Accord. The Arab countries also severed their relations with Egypt because of Camp David, and the headquarters of the League of Arab States were transferred to Tunisia until 1992.
In any case, we are fully aware of Egypt’s circumstances, and we hope that the inter-relationships will rise from taking care of interests to exchanging full-fledged diplomatic missions between Egypt and Iran soon.
Q: What about your relationship with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif?
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif has a special privacy in the heart of Iran. At the world level, there are 3 educational seminaries: the scientific estate in Najaf, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and the scientific seminary in Qom. We appreciate and respect the sheikhs of Al-Azhar, headed by His Eminence, the Grand Imam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb How much his statement in Bahrain was appreciated by the Iranians when he said: Our hand is extended to everyone for the sake of cooperation among us, and we have to put aside the jurisprudential differences, and we are desperately waiting for the meeting of His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Al-Tayeb.
Q: What about the role of Iranian drama in the rapprochement between Egyptian culture and its Iranian counterpart, such as Yusuf al-Siddiq and Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab?
There is a fatwa at the highest level prohibiting insulting the Companions of the Great Messenger Muhammad bin Abdullah on the tongue of the imams of Iran, led by Imam Ali Khamenei and President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and that their respect is a duty and the role of the Companions in the expansion of the Islamic state, and we do not forget the saying of the second caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab: If it were not for Ali, Omar would have perished. And that the disputes began to afflict the Islamic state since the caliph Othman bin Affan in the person of the sons of Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan.
Q: What about the social conditions between Egypt and Iran, such as marriage and tourism?
Marriage between Iranians and Egyptians is going well, and a week ago we witnessed an Egyptian-Iranian wedding. There are no Iranian restrictions at all regarding Egyptians visiting Iran without a visa. Iranians’ visits to Egypt are still limited, despite the possibility of one million Iranians to visit Egypt annually.
Q: What about polygamy and the marriage of an Egyptian to an Iranian woman and vice versa? Does the Iranian community have a school of their own, and where does the Friday prayer take place?
According to Islamic law, polygamy can reach 4 wives, and there are no restrictions on the marriage of an Egyptian to an Iranian woman and vice versa. We do not have a private school in Egypt, and international schools are the alternative. I perform Friday prayers in Heliopolis, near my residence, and I visit Imam Hussein once a week.
