Egypt Emerges as a Key Diplomatic Winner as Iran Talks Advance
As the conflict with Iran shifts toward diplomacy, the Wall Street Journal reports that the United States and Iran are moving toward a broader deal that could end the war. After last week’s Apache helicopter crash near the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump again threatened a large-scale strike and then pulled back, but this time both sides appear to be leaning toward a comprehensive agreement, with longer-term hopes for a renewed nuclear accord.
The report says Trump would have difficulty selling any deal with Tehran as a political victory in the United States. Analysts told the paper that his approach has been to postpone disputed issues in the hope that this will draw Iran closer. Iran, meanwhile, faces its own political pressure from hardliners in the ayatollah regime, who oppose any acceptance of Trump’s demand for limits on the nuclear program, even after the serious damage from recent attacks.
According to the mediators, the parties are close to a ceasefire deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while the nuclear negotiations would be deferred. William Wexler, director of the Middle East program at the Atlantic Council and a former senior Defense Department official, said, “There are many ways Iran can buy time. It is in their interest, and it will continue to be the pattern.”
Separately, Amwaj reports that Egypt has quietly emerged as a major regional diplomatic player. Cairo has stepped up engagement with Arab states and Iran to lower tensions, and Trump’s view of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was reflected in Sisi’s presence on Trump’s May 24 call with regional leaders. Two days earlier, Sisi spoke by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about efforts to reach a “final and comprehensive agreement,” according to the Egyptian presidency. Egyptian official Ayman Zain al-Din said Cairo’s top priority is preventing any Gulf Arab state from being “directly involved militarily in the war,” while Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said no Arab country had asked Egypt for military intervention. Egypt also previously mediated in September to restore IAEA monitoring at Iranian nuclear facilities.
