Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri invited senior officials from all countries of the globe, instead of four, for the opening of the new Suez Canal on Thursday, August 6th, UAE’s al-Bayan daily reported. Bashar Assad and Iran were amongst those not invited.
Informed sources say the reason why Iran was not invited is that the security of Persian Gulf regions is a red line for Egypt, and Cairo doesn’t accept meddling in other country’s internal affairs, especially by Tehran.
Syria was expelled from the Arab League following its crises and crackdown of dissidents. On the other hand, Syrian dissidents are present in Cairo and hold various sessions there. It appears that various countries would have not participated if Syrian government officials were invited to the ceremony.