Despite Egypt-Iran tensions, the Shiite-dominated Islamic republic has made an unprecedented request for Cairo’s Al-Azhar University — Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning — to open a branch in Tehran.
The overture has, however, sparked speculation in Egypt that Iran, increasingly embattled over its controversial nuclear program, is merely seeking Arab support in its standoff with the West.
“We have asked officially, but so far we have had no response,” said Karim Azizi, spokesman at the Iranian interests section in Cairo where there has been no Iranian embassy since diplomatic relations were cut almost 30 years ago.
Azizi said the request to Al-Azhar — founded in 975AD — was aimed at “reinforcing Iranian-Egyptian relations and bringing closer together the different Islamic confessions, especially Sunnis and Shiites.”
The surprise move comes amid anger in Sunni-majority Egypt after Iranian television screened a film reportedly calling assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat a traitor and hailing his executed killer as a martyr.
After Assassination of a Pharaoh was shown, Egypt last month canceled a soccer match, summoned Iran’s envoy in Cairo and closed an Iranian satellite TV channel’s office.
Officially Iran has sought to distance itself from the broadcast, saying it does not represent Tehran’s position and instead hailing relations between the two Middle East heavyweights as “based on friendship and brotherhood.”
In a region increasingly riven with Sunni-Shiite tensions and amid fears of a so-called Shiite crescent running from Beirut to Tehran, Egypt’s soured relations with Iran have little to do with sectarianism, however.
Diplomatic ties were severed in 1980 a year after Iran’s Islamic revolution in protest at Egypt recognizing Israel, hosting the deposed shah and supporting Baghdad during the 1980 to 1988 Iran-Iraq war.
Relations warmed recently, with both states signaling a willingness to restore ties. In January, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Iranian parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hada Adel, the first such high-level talks in almost three decades.
Sheikh Ali Abdel Baqi, the head of Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Center, said the Iranian request for a university or faculty was unofficial and came from Iran’s 5 million-strong Sunni minority, most of whom are members of ethnic minority groups living in the country’s borderlands.
He said Iranian Sunnis want to “teach their children the Sunnism that’s taught at Al-Azhar because it is moderate and open, and this is Al-Azhar’s message all over the world.”
Mohammed Sayed Said, editor of the independent Al-Badil newspaper, called the initiative “a very smart move. Iran keeps reaching out to Egypt and Mubarak’s Egypt is not responsive and has not been for the past 10 years. It’s political. It’s not even diplomatic because I don’t think it will be approved by the state.”
“The general feeling at the moment is that we [Muslims] are the target of destruction, so we should do whatever is necessary to restore unity,” he said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel