Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadine-jad’s trip to Egypt this month to attend the summit of the organisation of Islamic co-operation marked a diplomatic mile-stone between the two countries. Tehran hopes their closer relations can be cemented by energy co-operation. The visit was the first by an Iranian head of state to Egypt since the 1979 Iranian revolution, and followed Egyp-tian president Mohamed Morsi’s simi-larly groundbreaking trip to Tehran in August. Ahmadinejad’s visit included discussion of bilateral relations and trade. Energy co-operation between the two states — one with huge oil and gas reserves, and the other short of them — appear to offer opportunities for both. But the geopolitical barriers to any energy deals between the two coun-tries remain high.
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