Egypt Sees US-Iran Crisis ‘Bridgeable’ as It Pursues Mediation

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(Bloomberg) — Egypt sees a path for the US and Iran to de-escalate tensions after about two weeks of tit-for-tat attacks and resume peace talks, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said, as Cairo pushes for a diplomatic solution along with key mediators.

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The North African country is in daily contact with the warring parties, Persian Gulf states, Pakistan, Turkey and others as it tries to encourage a return to the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding the US and Iran signed in mid-June, Abdelatty said Thursday in an interview.

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“There is a specific proposal now under discussions, and we hope that this proposal will contribute to de-escalation,” Egypt’s top envoy said on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in the Philippines, adding he would meet with his counterpart from Oman later Thursday.

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“Oman is playing a very important role, so we are coordinating our efforts,” he said. 

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Declining to go into details, Abdelatty said the proposal was subject to further discussions between Oman and Iran and connected to “freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

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A chokepoint for global energy supplies, the waterway has been at the center of US-Iran tensions after the Islamic Republic effectively forced its closure when Washington and Israel launched the war in February. 

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The US demands maritime traffic through Hormuz continue uninterrupted before it considers removing a naval blockade of Iran, while the Islamic Republic has refused to relent. 

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The speaker of Iran’s parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said late Wednesday no other country in the region would be able to export oil if Tehran can’t sell its own.

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Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan — which along with Qatar has been the main mediator in the near five-month conflict — but there was no sign the meetings were productive.

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“There are no negotiations — it’s only possible for there to be an exchange of messages,” a spokesman for the Iranian ministry said after the visit to Pakistan, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

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“Our new message is that the enemy violated the memorandum and should implement it,” he added, referring to the June 17 interim peace agreement.

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Abdelatty said negotiations can resume to implement the June interim deal and reach a final agreement “with the political will from the two sides.” 

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“Because, to be frank with you, the existing differences are bridgeable,” he said.

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Egypt, which is hundreds of miles from the strikes hitting Iran and Gulf states, has in recent years carved out a role as mediator, balancing relations with dozens of countries, many of which are odds with each other. 

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It has constantly criticized Iran’s targeting of other Arab nations, including Kuwait, which has increasingly borne the brunt of Tehran’s attacks this month.

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