Egypt's Foreign Minister visits Iran for first time to attend funeral of late president

Cairo, May 22 Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived on Wednesday in Iran's capital Tehran to participate in the funeral of the late Iranian president and foreign minister, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media platform X.

This is the first visit by the Egyptian foreign minister to Iran, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Representing the Egyptian government, Shourkry headed to Tehran to take part in the official mourning ceremonies, the ministry said in an earlier statement, stressing Egypt's solidarity with Iran in this critical situation, reports Xinhua News Agency.

Iran's official news agency IRNA confirmed on Monday the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan's Governor Malek Rahmati, senior Shia cleric Mohammad-Ali Ale-Hasehem, and others after their helicopter crashed in Varzaqan County in Iran's East Azarbaijan Province on Sunday.

Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In recent months, both countries have expressed a willingness to mend bilateral ties by settling differences on certain issues.

In May, Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart exchanged views on the latest joint efforts to improve bilateral ties in a meeting on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Banjul, capital of The Gambia.

--IANS

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