Iran hopeful that ties with Egypt would be resumed soon and ties would be reestablished

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that talks to reestablish diplomatic ties with Egypt were under way and it was hopeful ties would be resumed soon.

Mehmanparast said Foreign Minister Ali Akbar-Salehi was to meet his Egyptian counterpart, Nabil al-Arabi, this month on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement conference in Indonesia.

Before that, the two sides would meet at the deputy foreign minister level in Cairo, Mehmanparast said.

Tehran had urged Cairo to take a "courageous step" to upgrade diplomatic ties despite resistance from the United States and Israel.

Al-Arabi said in March that Cairo was ready to "open a new page with Iran" in the post-Mubarak era.

Iran and Egypt have had no diplomatic ties since Iran's 1979 revolution, but the two governments cooperate on diplomatic affairs at a non-ambassador level.