With every passing day, President Bush’s “tree of appeasement” bears new fruit. Egypt and Iran are meeting today in order to explore the possibility of renewing diplomatic relations, which they severed in 1979. Why? If the US can talk to Iran, why can’t Egypt?
“Iran, Egypt to mull renewal of ties,” from Zvi Barel for Haaretz:
Egypt and Iran will hold a round of talks in the coming days aimed at restoring full diplomatic relations. The rapprochement was apparently made possible by the recent thaw between the United States and Iran.
The US is helping Iran recruit friends.
According to sources in Egypt, Cairo’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, is expected to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, to discuss opening embassies in Tehran and Cairo.
Last week, Aboul Gheit sent Mottaki a message saying Egypt was willing to talk about restoring relations with Iran. The message was sent in response to a statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said that “should Egypt signal that it wants to restore relations, we would be willing to open an embassy in Cairo the very next day.”
The current drive to renew relations, which were severed in 1979 following the Islamic revolution in Iran, apparently results from the recent thaw between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic. The two foes have been engaged in contact in recent months after Washington’s decision to include the Iranians in talks on Iraq’s future.
“The idea of renewing relations with Iran had surfaced twice before, in 2000 and 2004,” an Egyptian source told Haaretz. “We never followed through because of American pressure. But now the U.S. is itself engaging in direct contact with the Iranians, so no one can argue now that renewing relations is an anti-American motion.“
It’s hard to see what the “thaw” in the US/Iran relationship is accomplishing other than bringing other nations closer to Iran. It’s just as hard to imagine that Egypt will maintain its “hear no evil see no evil” policy in regard to weapon smuggling from the Sinai to the Gaza Strip. As always, appeasement is a deadly game.
Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.