Contesting for regional dominance

The announcement by Egypt last week that it had detained 49 Hezbollah members, who were believed to have been planning to carry out attacks against Israeli tourists at resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, is seen as a new chapter in the ongoing conflict for regional dominance between Egypt and Iran.

Tensions between the two countries escalated earlier this year after Israel launched its offensive in Gaza, which killed some 1,400 Palestinians. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah urged the Egyptian army to put pressure on Hosni Mubarak's government to intervene to stop the fighting and open its border with the Gaza Strip. Egyptian media, mostly the state-owned channels, accused Nasrallah of being an "Iranian agent who seeks to advance the interests of his masters in Tehran".

For the past few days, the Egyptian government has apparently been trying to make use of the so-called 'Hezbollah cell' to the maximum in an attempt to mobilise domestic and Arab public opinion against Iran. The timing of the announcement was also indicative. It came amidst reports that the Barack Obama administration is preparing for a dialogue with Tehran over its nuclear programme and regional role. There is an Egyptian concern that any US-Iranian deal will almost certainly lead to undercutting its regional influence.

Several past attempts to overcome the thorny issues between the two regimes led almost to nothing. In late 2003, Cairo and Tehran were very close to restoring full diplomatic ties, broken off after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Iran's refusal to take down a large mural of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's assassin, Khalid Al Islambouli, hindered progress in that direction. Al Islambouli was one of the army officers who killed Sadat during a military parade in 1981. He was sentenced to death soon thereafter. Iran considered Al Islambouli a martyr and has hence honoured him by naming a street in Tehran after him.

This was in fact the nominal reason Cairo gave for hindering the resumption of diplomatic relations with Tehran. Tehran cut diplomatic ties after Cairo signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Fearing its declared agenda to export revolutionary ideas to the entire region, Egypt sided with Iraq in the eight-year war. Egyptian soldiers and officers fought and held back the Iranian revolutionary guard in Basra, south of Iraq, for weeks during the major fighting in early 1986.

Following the US invasion of Iraq, then Iranian president Mohammad Khatami called for the resumption of diplomatic relations with Egypt. US pressure on Cairo to stick with the policy of isolating Iran undermined Khatami's efforts, however. Since then, Cairo-Tehran relations have worsened. The ascendance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in August 2005 led to a further deterioration in the relationship between the two countries.

Egypt, together with other Arab countries, has been concerned at the rising Iranian influence in the region, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. To counteract Iran's quest for regional hegemony, Egypt joined an American-backed alliance of Sunni Arab states. Cairo was in fact trying to contain the sea change which has engulfed the region after the fall of Saddam Hussain.

Iran's increasing interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries has, thus, been strongly criticised by Cairo. Iran was accused of trying to use Arab causes to advance its interests and enhance its position ahead of any future deal with the west over its nuclear programme. In the summer of 2006, the Egyptian government denounced the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, leading to massive Israeli aerial bombardment against Lebanon. Egypt described Hezbollah's action as "irresponsible and uncalculated adventure", carried out at the behest of Tehran. Iran responded by accusing Egypt of being an American lackey.

When Mubarak announced in September 2006 that he would be seeking nuclear energy for civilian purposes, his announcement was widely interpreted as a response to Iran's quest for nuclear power. Reviving Egypt's nuclear programme, notwithstanding its peaceful nature, was meant to suggest that Cairo would not stand idle and watch as Tehran gained nuclear power and hence strengthened its regional position at Egypt's expense.

The 'Hezbollah cell' issue must hence be understood within the context of this broader conflict between Egypt and Iran. The two countries seem to have decided to use almost every single tool at their disposal to defend their regional weight and influence. One must therefore expect that this conflict will intensify as the proposed US-Iran dialogue progresses.

Dr Marwan Al Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations at Damascus University's Faculty of Political Science and Media.