The Guardian has seen emails indicating that the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, asked Kerry for Cairo’s team to attend the Lausanne talks. Iran was also keen not to be outnumbered by an anti-Assad coalition – comprising Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States – at the Lausanne talks. It was the first public dispute between Egypt and Saudi Arabia since Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Since then, Saudi Arabia has sent billions of dollars to Egypt, which have helped keep its faltering economy afloat. However, Egypt and Iran have drawn closer over support for the Assad regime in Syria and in welcoming Russian military cooperation.

Source: The Guardian October 20, 2016 10:03 UTC