TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that he is optimistic about the prospect of relations between Tehran and Cairo.

“I am optimistic about the future of relations with Egypt. However, we should act patiently, and hasty measures should not be taken,” Salehi told the website of the Iranian government in an interview published on Monday.
The Egyptian government and people are keen to have relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Salehi stated.
“However, the Egyptian government is under pressure at this juncture, and we understand its situation,” he added.
Salehi also said, “Strengthening political cooperation will naturally lead to the expansion of economic cooperation.”
Visits to European countries on Foreign Ministry’s agenda
Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi said the Foreign Ministry plans to organize visits to a number of European countries.
The details of the visits and the designated countries will be announced in the near future, he added.
On May 24, Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, announced that the European Union has suspended a travel ban on Iran’s foreign minister.
Salehi was placed on the sanctions list and banned from entering the EU in November 2009 due to his previous role as the director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which is on the EU sanctions blacklist.
“Technically he stays on the list, but the application of the travel ban has been suspended,” Maja Kocijancic stated.