Iran gets closer to Egypt

The Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, has said Iran hopes to restore diplomatic relations with Egypt in the near future.

He told the state-run news agency the two countries had become closer because Egypt had distanced itself from Israel.

Relations were cut in 1979 when Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement.

Since then, Cairo has repeatedly accused Tehran of supporting Muslim militants in Egypt.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian foreign minister, Amr Moussa, called on President Khatami of Iran to open the door to closer relations.

For the past six years, Egypt and Iran have had interest sections in each other's capitals.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service