September 19, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 06, 1428

CAIRO: Egypt and Iran will hold talks at the ministerial level with the aim of renewing full diplomatic relations that have been frozen since 1980, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

“There has been an agreement to continue dialogue between both sides in particular over bilateral relations on the level of senior officials and then foreign ministers,” ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement.

The announcement came as international tensions were running high over Iran’s nuclear drive, with warnings by France that the world should be ready for a war over the crisis.

It followed talks in Cairo between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Hussin Dirar, Egypt’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs.

In May, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran was ready to restore full diplomatic relations with Egypt and would open its embassy in Cairo the “very day” the Egyptian government agreed.

—AFP