Cairo: An official visit by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to Cairo on Sunday has been cancelled by Egypt.
The minister was planning to raise the issue of statements attributed to him, claiming he said that participation by the Arab leaders in the restart of the direct Palestinian-Israeli talks is a betrayal of their people.
State-run news agencies reported that the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose countries are the only two Arab countries to have diplomatic ties with Israel, are attending the US-sponsored talks in Washington.
Wafaa Bassim, Egypt's Assistant Foreign Minister, had summoned the Iranian Charge d' Affaires in Cairo and demanded him to provide clarification of the statement.
Mottaki was due to visit Cairo for talks on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of which Egypt, Cuba and Iran are currently members.
Nessim had informed the Iranian diplomat that "in view of this development", the NAM troika in Cairo would be delayed and a new date would be set during the UN General Assembly meetings later this month.
Iran severed diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1979 when the latter signed a peace treaty with Israel. Recent bids to improve their relationship have stymied over Cairo's accusation that Tehran is engaged in destabilising activity in the region.
