Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Egypt this evening, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported, a first visit to the country in nearly 12 years by a head of Iranian diplomacy.

The trip comes at a time when Iran is stepping up diplomatic talks in an effort to defuse regional tensions, following strikes on Israel on October 1 that have now raised fears of retaliation.

The last visit to Egypt by an Iranian diplomatic chief was in January 2013 when Ali Akbar Salehi had moved to Cairo.

Abbas Aragchi was in Jordan earlier today as part of his tour of the region.

After Egypt, he will leave for Turkey, his ministry announced.

Iran on October 1 launched 200 missiles at Israel, including several hypersonic missiles that were fired for the first time. Israel has vowed to make Iran pay the price for its attack.

Tehran presented the strikes as retaliation for the July assassination in the Iranian capital of the leader of Palestinian Hamas, which it attributed to Israel, as well as the death of an Iranian general in an airstrike in Lebanon, as well as the death of Hassan Nasrallah. , leader for more than 30 years of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a Shiite organization supported financially and militarily by Iran.

Since then, Foreign Minister Aragchi has multiplied diplomatic initiatives.

He went successively to Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Oman, which generally acts as a mediator for indirect talks with the United States.

On Tuesday night, Abbas Araghchi held talks with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barro and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to Tehran.