Iran prepares for Ahmadinejad’s Cairo visit

An Iranian diplomatic envoy has arrived in Cairo to prepare the ground for a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, slated for February 6, the Iran Times website quoted a diplomat as saying. Speaking to the website, Foreign Office diplomat Mohammed Riza Furkani said that President Ahmadinejad would visit Egypt in February, accepting an invitation by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to take part in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] summit. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi added that Ahmadinejad would arrive in Egypt to deliver a speech at the summit, which runs from February 2 to 7 in the Egyptian capital. The President will also meet with several regional leaders, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. The delegation aims to improve bilateral ties, Salehi said during a press conference on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad's visit will be the first time an Iranian head of state has come to Egypt while in office for 30 years. Egypt and Iran broke diplomatic ties in 1979 following the outbreak of Iran's Islamic revolution and Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Since President Morsi's election last year, the two states have signalled an eagerness to restore diplomatic ties. Morsi participated in the Non-Aligned Movement summit on August 30 in Tehran.