Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will attend the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran on August 30. Morsi will make the first visit by an Egyptian president to Iran after diplomatic relations between the two states were broken off in 1980, when Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, RIA Novosti reports.
Morsi will arrive in Iran after a visit to China on August 27-29.
Iranian Vice President Hamid Bakai visited Cairo in early August and presented an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Egypt has been chairing the movement for the last 3 years and will pass the chairmanship to Iran.
The presidents of Egypt and Iran met in Mecca within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Iran has been trying to restore diplomatic ties with Egypt since the revolution in the spring of 2011 and legalization of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country. Morsi was part of the brotherhood’s authorities until becoming the president.
The Non-Aligned Movement was founded in Belgrade in September 1961. It consisted of 25 states. Its members do not join military blocks or alliances, such as NATO or the Warsaw Treaty Organization. It has 120 members today.
