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Will Iran nuclear deal lead to rapprochement with Cairo?

The pending nuclear agreement with Iran could provide some much-needed balance for Egypt's shifting foreign policy in the region.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addresses the Opening Meeting of the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at United Nations headquarters in New York, April 27, 2015.    REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX1AJ89
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CAIRO — The negotiations have ended and a preliminary framework agreement — acting as a preamble and the basis for a final nuclear agreement — between Iran and six world powers has been reached and is paving the way for the gradual lifting of economic sanctions and embargo on Iran. Ever since, Cairo has appeared to be in a state of anticipation of the negotiations’ results, expected to be completed in June 2015, to formulate an official position to achieve balance in its foreign policy, which could restore the Egyptian-Iranian relations that have been tense over the past three decades.

The tension in the relationship between the two countries started with Egypt's signing of the Camp David accords with Israel in 1979, its support for Iraq during its eight-year conflict with Iran and the Islamic Republic's hailing of Khalid Islambouli — late President Anwar Sadat's assassin — as a religious hero. As of now, Iran has no embassy in Egypt. However, despite the significant improvement in relations after President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, the tension is back again after the air campaign on Yemen and the Iranian support for the Houthis.

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