After 34 years, the first commercial flight between Egypt and Iran takes off.
A flight operated by Air Memphis, owned by Egyptian businessman Rami Lakah, took off from Cairo to Tehran this Saturday carrying eight Iranians, including diplomats; this is the latest step towards normalizing relations broken after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
CAIRO (Reuters) The first commercial flight between Egypt and Iran in 34 years took off on Saturday, the latest step toward normalizing relations that were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Egypt and Iran agreed to resume direct flights between the two countries in October 2010, before President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power, but no flights took place.
"An Air Memphis flight, owned by Egyptian businessman Rami Lakah, took off from Cairo to Tehran earlier on Saturday, carrying eight Iranians, including diplomats," said an airport official, adding that the airline may later operate more tourist and business flights between Egypt and Iran.
Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were severed as a consequence of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, when the Cairo government gave refuge to the deposed Shah.
But relations have improved over the years, and have become significantly better since the election of Islamist Mohamed Morsi as president of Egypt in June 2012.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Egypt in February, the first visit by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, and suggested a strategic alliance with Egypt and offered a loan to the financially needy Arab country.
Mursi visited Iran in August to participate in an international summit where he initiated a four-member committee that included Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to end the Syrian civil war. Saudi Arabia later left the group.
(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh)