Egyptian Overtures to Iran Demonstrate Alliance

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi offered to reward Iran with enhanced ties if Tehran will abandon Syria’s President Bashar Assad.

This overture by Egypt is the latest diplomatic initiative intended to solve the Syrian crisis. Every other diplomatic solution thus far has failed.

The offer was first made by Morsi when he met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran last month, and has resulted in the formation of the “Islamic Quartet”—a regional grouping of nations comprised of anti-Assad Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; and pro-Assad Iran. Iran has since requested for Iraq and another unspecified country to join the quartet.

According to Morsi, if Iran ends its support of Assad, Egypt will restore full diplomatic ties with Iran and help improve relations between Iran and conservative Arab nations. Egypt said it would work toward ending Iran’s regional isolation. Associated Press noted that this would be “a significant diplomatic prize for Iran.” Egypt is the most populous Muslim nation in the Middle East, and it has one of its strongest militaries.

Although it is doubtful that Egypt’s current overtures to Iran will persuade Tehran to abandon its most important ally, they dramatically show how much Egypt has changed under Morsi’s rule. Under previous Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt and Iran were enemies.

In his December 1994 Trumpet article titled “Is Iraq About to Fall to Iran?,” editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote about the prophesied geopolitical realignment in the Middle East. Egypt, he predicted, would have “an alliance with the king of the south”—Iran. That alliance is now congealed and is solidifying more every day.