Speaking to FNA on Saturday, Egypt's Prominent Shiite Leader Rasim al-Nafis mentioned that the Egyptian nation has never opposed resumption of ties with Iran, and expressed the hope that the two countries would resume bilateral relations at the earliest.
Meantime, he warned of certain states' opposition to the establishment of strong ties between Tehran and Cairo, and stated, "The Arab Persian Gulf littoral states, including Saudi Arabia, the Zionist Regime of Israel and the remnants of (Hosni) Mubarak's regime view the resumption of Tehran-Cairo ties as harmful to their interests and, thus, try to prevent resumption of these relations."
Nafis further pointed out that his people are strongly opposed to their country's ties with Israel.
He noted Egyptians' recent demonstration against Israel in Cairo, and underlined that his country's ties with Israel will be cut sooner or later.
Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi reiterated that Cairo is definitely willing to resume its bilateral diplomatic ties with Tehran.
Al-Arabi said Cairo has officially announced plans to normalize ties with Tehran, stating that Egypt had entered a new chapter in its foreign policy with all nations.
The Egyptian foreign minister made the remarks in an interview with Italy's La Republica newspaper on Wednesday.
After the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime, the Iranian and Egyptian officials have frequently voiced their interest in the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Iran's top diplomat Ali Akbar Salehi has officially invited al-Arabi to pay a visit to Tehran.
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