Iran requested US invite Egypt to Syria peace talks

Leaked emails show that Tehran pushed for Cairo's inclusion during recent diplomatic talks in Lausanne, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

20 October, 2016

The reuqest was made in an email by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif [Getty]

Leaked emails have revealed that Iran personally requested Egypt’s attendance at key Syria talks held in the Swiss city of Lausanne last Saturday aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict, a British newspaper reported.

Talks in Lausanne were initially set to include only five Arab states, namely Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan.

However emails seen by The Guardian show that Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif requested that US Secretary of State John Kerry include “Egypt too” in order to “see if a new reasonableness can manifest itself in Syria” negotiations.

Iran’s lobbying for Egypt’s inclusion in the Lausanne talks began a matter of days before Egypt stunned its financial backer Saudi Arabia by voting alongside Russia to block a draft UN Security Council resolution proposed by France which demanded an end to airstrikes in Aleppo.

As a result, Riyadh has since suspended oil aid to Egypt, estimated at some 700,000 tonnes of petroleum products monthly.

The breakdown of relations marks the first dispute between the two states since Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi rose to power having ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The revelation that Iran requested Egypt’s attendance in Lausanne has exacerbated concerns that Tehran is gaining traction in attempts to woo Cairo away from its traditional allies.

Egypt and Iran have not had full diplomatic ties since the 1980s when during the Iranian Revolution of 1979 Cairo offered Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi exile. However the two countries have grown closer in recent months.

This process has in part been facilitated by growing military cooperation between Cairo and Moscow, a close ally of Tehran.

Additionally, although Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous Sunni state, Sisi has notably not expressed support for the Syrian opposition.

Instead the Egyptian President appears increasingly to be siding with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier this week a top-ranking Syrian intelligence official visited Cairo with Syrian state media reporting afterwards that the visit was part of an ongoing process aimed at “coordinating stances politically between Syria and Egypt... and boosting coordination for combating terrorism hitting both countries."

Sisi has also been accused of providing arms to the Syrian regime.