Egypt, meanwhile, tried to put some distance between itself and Iran, saying it viewed Iran as just a neighbor and not as an enemy—or a friend.
Some of the Arabs fear the re-establishment of relations would hurt the Arabs around the Persian Gulf.
The complaints prompted Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to vow last week the restoration of relations “will not undermine the security of the Gulf states because the security of those states is important to us and to Egypt’s national security.”
The odd thing about the complaints appearing in many Arabic newspapers around the Persian Gulf is that every Arab state there has relations with Iran itself.
Many voices have been heard in the United States expressing similar displeasure at the thought that the two countries might want again to open embassies.
Diplomatic relations, however, do not signify friendly relations, only that both countries are interested in doing business. All the European states that have pushed for sanctions on Iran also have diplomatic relations with Iran. The United States had diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union all through the Cold War. The US had relations with Nazi Germany throughout the bombing of London in 1940-41 and relations ended only because Hitler declared war on the United States in December 1941.
Egypt said it wished to restore diplomatic relations with Iran several weeks ago, but nothing has yet happened. It isn’t known what the delay is.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi said he would meet his Iranian counterpart, Ali-Akbar Salehi, later this month on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Indonesia to discuss ties, so nothing is likely to happen until then.
Arabi also acknowledged the concerns of other Arabs. “Any rapprochement between Cairo and any other capital must not interfere with Egypt’s commitment to defend Arab causes, and the Gulf countries know this very well,” he said.
Only one Persian Gulf Arab state, Qatar, has spoken up publicly in support of Egypt restoring ties with Iran.
It is most broadly believed now that Egypt wants to restore relations as part of an effort Egypt to play a bigger role in the Middle East and the world in general. Egyptian officials have made clear their displeasure that the government of President Hosni Mubarak abdicated that role.
Ambassador Menha Ba-khoum, spokeswoman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, made clear that Egypt was not approaching Iran because it endorsed Iranian policies. “All the world has diplomatic relations with Iran with the exception of the United States and Israel,” she said, although there are others that do not, such as Senegal which just severed relations a few months ago. “We look at Iran as a neighbor in the region that we should have normal relations with. Iran is not perceived as an enemy, as it was under the previous regime. And it is not perceived as a friend.”