News - Presidents of Iran and Egypt met in Saudi Arabia for the first time in 45 years

The presidents of Iran and Egypt held a meeting, the first of its kind in 45 years, in the Saudi capital on Saturday, Mehr reported. The meeting between Ebrahim Raisi and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was the first meeting between the two presidents in the last 45 years since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. At the meeting, Raisi emphasized "the need for unity among Islamic countries amid the Israeli regime's aggression in Gaza." "The Islamic Republic of Iran has no obstacles to expand relations with the friendly country of Egypt," he said. The Iranian president characterized the holding of the recent peace meeting in Cairo on the events in Gaza as a positive initiative that was prevented from coming to fruition by Western countries. "The peace meeting in Cairo could have been a turning point in stopping the Zionist crimes of slaughtering defenseless and innocent women and children in Gaza, but the Western countries that support the Zionist regime, just as they prevented the Security Council and other international organizations from taking effective action to stop these crimes, they prevented the fruitful meeting from coming to fruition," Raisi said.  Stating that the world expects the Rafah crossing to be opened so that international aid can flow into Gaza, the Iranian president said: "It is clear to everyone that America and the Zionist regime are obstructing the opening of the Rafah crossing to provide aid to the oppressed and defenseless people of Gaza. However, these obstacles must be overcome." El-Sisi, for his part, told at the meeting that "our certain political will is to establish real relations with Iran," adding that "for this purpose, we have appointed the relevant ministers to develop deep relations between the two countries" "Regarding Palestine, Egypt is the country that has suffered the most from the consequences of this issue," he added.