Meeting in Cairo, Anxiety in Tel Aviv

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is following in the footsteps of his predecessor. The surgeon-turned-politician is deepening Iran’s connections in the region, forging stronger ties with Muslim nations and solidifying key alliances.
After patching up relations with Saudi Arabia in 2023, Iran has set its sights on a more important Arab actor: Egypt. Following over four decades of strained relations, Iran and Egypt are closer to full rapprochement than ever before. This is underscored by President Pezeshkian’s landmark visit to Cairo for the D-8 summit on Thursday; the first by an Iranian president in 11 years.

During his speech at the summit, Pezeshkian spoke of Iran’s vision for a close and united region. “The importance of preserving friendships and forging new bonds through multilateral cooperation among Islamic countries, based on development and collective benefits, is now felt more than ever,” he said, adding, “Moving toward multilateralism and establishing smart economic and trade networks among nations is a rightful course of action, reflecting the will of the majority of countries.”

In his meeting with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the summit, Pezeshkian made it clear that Iran sees strong ties with Egypt as an important piece in the regional puzzle it is trying to build. “All Islamic countries should strive to expand interaction and dialogue within the Islamic world according to their share, and overcome existing differences, as these differences provide a basis for foreign interventions,” he stressed in remarks to Sisi.