ATHENS Contacts are underway between Egypt and Iran, either through Syria or by direct telephone talks between Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, to discuss ways to strengthen diplomatic and political ties between Cairo and Tehran. Diplomatic sources in Cairo told Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram al-Arabi that Egypt seeks to strengthen ties with Iran and to create an Arab front together with Iran against the Israeli-Turkish alliance.

Egyptian sources expect that agreements on details of strengthening of ties between Egyptian-Arab front with Iran would be completed by the end of this year, said the Arab weekly in its issue published yesterday. However, the Arab-Iranian rapprochement would not take the form of any military alliance or cooperation in accordance with the Egyptian viewpoint which rejects the creation of any political or military alliance in the region of the Middle East, added the state-run Egyptian magazine.

(IRNA)