Egyptian professor of modern history Mohamed Afifi said in a January 14, 2024 interview on Ten TV (Egypt) that he considers Iran to be an enemy of Egypt. He said that since the times of the ancient Persian Empire, Iran had aspirations to control the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea and the trade routes to Europe through the invasion of Egypt.
Mohamed Afifi: I consider Iran to be an enemy. I prefer using this term, and when I say ‘I,’ I mean as an Egyptian and an Arab, as well.”
Interviewer: “But we do not share a border with Iran.”
Afifi: “In terms of Iranian strategy, we do share a border. As you know, if we look at history to this very day, Iran, which used to be called ‘Persia,’ had what geostrategists call ‘aspirations’ to control the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This has been the case ever since the days of the ancient Persian Empire. Many people do not know that Iran, or ancient Persia, invaded Egypt and occupied it twice. I stress that it exploited the weakness of ancient Egypt – the so-called ‘Pharaonic Egypt’ – and the waning of Egypt’s power, and it occupied it for years, towards the end of the ancient Egyptian period.
“Later on, just before the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, Persia occupied Egypt once again, because occupying Egypt enabled it to control the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. This was [Persia’s] great dream, because if we look at Iran’s geography, we see that it is in a stranglehold – but controlling the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea enables it to control Europe and the trade routes.”