TEHRAN No visit to Egypt is on the agenda of President Khatami, an official at the President's Office told the TEHRAN TIMES yesterday.
He was referring to a story published by Al-Ahram Tuesday quoting President Khatami as saying that he would "visit Egypt soon".
The story is absolutely baseless, he said, adding, as a protocol, the president of a country would not announce his visit to another country through the media of the host state.
The Al-Ahram story has been written in a very amateurish manner which indicates that it is politically motivated, he added.
Experts say that the OIC Summit in Doha, Qatar, has exposed Egypt's pro-Israeli policies and in order to sink this fiasco into oblivion, the officials in Cairo are trying to play the Iran card.
The Egyptian officials are well aware of the sentiments of their people and other Muslims, he said, adding they are also aware of Iran's anti-Israeli position, hence, they try to reduce the anger of the Egyptian people by spreading rumors that Cairo is getting close to Tehran.
Egypt has been making every effort to show that it has distanced itself from Israel, but when it comes to realpolitik it is exposed.
The OIC Summit was a crucial occasion to make distinctions between the pro- and anti-Israeli forces within the Muslim world.
Iran's relations with Egypt follow an established principle, that is, the more Egyptians distance themselves from Israel, the more the grounds are prepared for rapprochement with Iran.
"Under the present circumstances President Khatami will never visit Egypt," a close ally of Khatami said.