Egypt freezes tourism activities with Iran over security concerns

Egypt decided on Tuesday to freeze tourism cooperation with Iran over security concerns, the state- run TV reported on Tuesday. "Egypt will freeze tourism activities with Iran for national security reasons," Tourism Minister Hesham Zazou said on the sidelines of the 9th Money and Finance Conference, which kicked off in Cairo on Monday. However, he reiterated that "the Iranian tourist flow into Egypt will be restored" after national security threats are diminished. Concerns emerged in Egypt after the 2011 political upheaval that toppled President Hosni Mubarak over the spread of the Shiism in the Sunni-dominated Muslim country. Ties between the Egypt and Iran were cut off after Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. But after the ouster of Mubarak, particularly after Mohamed Morsi took office as president, the ice began to thaw with the mutual visits by the two countries' leaders. However, the warming up of the relations came to a halt following Morsi's removal by the military on July 3, when Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said "the intervention of the Egyptian armed forces in politics is unacceptable and disturbing."