Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi confirmed (Saturday) that his country "does not see any obstacle to expanding relations with Egypt."

This came during a meeting between Raisi and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on the sidelines of the joint Arab-Islamic summit on the Palestinian issue, which was held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, today, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president’s office.

The Iranian President described Egypt as a "friendly country," stressing the need for greater unity among Islamic countries.
Regarding the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, Raisi said that the popular demand around the world is to open the Rafah crossing in Egypt so that supplies can be sent to the Palestinian coastal enclave.

He held the presidents of the United States and Israel responsible for "obstructing" the opening of the Rafah crossing.

For his part, the Egyptian President said that his country has the political will to establish “real relations” with Iran.

Al-Sisi said that to achieve this goal, the relevant Egyptian ministers were assigned the task of pursuing the establishment of deep relations between the two countries.

Regarding the Palestinian issue, Al-Sisi said that Egypt was more affected than any other country by the repercussions of the ongoing situation in Gaza.

Earlier today, Raisi also met with the head of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and expressed Tehran’s readiness to exchange diplomatic delegations with Khartoum and expand relations in various fields.

Al-Burhan also expressed his country's readiness to rebuild and resume relations with Iran, which he said would "be in the interest of the entire Islamic world."

Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In recent months, the two countries have expressed their willingness to repair bilateral relations by resolving differences on certain issues.

Last month, Iran and Sudan announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations, seven years after severing them in 2016 after Saudi Arabia moved to sever relations with Tehran in the same year.