Tehran to rename street honoring Sadat’s assassin amid thaw with Egypt

Tehran will rename a street named after the Islamist assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 as part of the Islamic Republic's efforts to improve diplomatic relations with Egypt.

Khalid Al-Islambuli was a member of the Egyptian military who was executed after leading the assassination of Sadat during a military parade in Cairo.

The street in northern Tehran was named after Islambuli in the early 1980s, drawing repeated protests from Cairo and contributing to strained ties. Egyptian officials have long viewed the gesture as a provocation and a major obstacle to normalization.

The decision to rename the street was announced on Tuesday by Tehran's City Council.

"Following coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the street naming committee has discussed the renaming of Khalid Al-Islambuli Street, also known as 'Vozara', and several replacement suggestions have been put forward," the Council's spokesman said.

While no particular name has been announced yet, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim says Hassan Nasrallah, the late leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, is among the names being considered.

Thaw after 45 years

Tehran's decision to change the controversial street name comes after the Iranian foreign minister’s recent visit to Cairo, signaling progress toward healing one of the region's deepest rifts, which has lingered from the 1979 Revolution in Iran and Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

Relations between the Sunni Muslim heavyweight and the Shi'ite theocracy has been in a deep freeze ever since.

Following Araghchi’s June 2 meeting with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the top Iranian envoy himself wrote in an Arabic post on X that diplomacy between Iran and Egypt had entered a new phase.

Egypt is a close US ally and maintains official relations with Israel. For Iran, mending the 45-year rift with Egypt could signal a softening of its revolutionary-era, anti-American posture.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously called for the Egyptian people to rise up and overthrow Anwar Sadat after he normalized ties with Israel.

It would also send a strong message across the region that longstanding hostilities and rivalries can give way to cooperation.