CHANCERIESTHE DIPLOMATIC ATLAS

Egypt and the United States Restore Diplomatic Relations

1974-02-28

During the October 1973 war, Washington supplied Israel while negotiating with Soviet and regional leaders to contain the fighting. President Anwar Sadat sought a way to recover occupied Egyptian territory. [1]

Egypt and the United States restored full diplomatic relations on 28 February 1974. That day, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger spent four hours with President Anwar Sadat at his rest house near the pyramids of Giza, discussing the next stages of negotiations after the October 1973 war. [4]

The previous month, Kissinger had traveled repeatedly between Egypt and Israel to negotiate a disengagement agreement. Signed on 18 January, it separated their forces with a United Nations buffer zone east of the Suez Canal. Negotiations concerned the positions of armies, limits on armor, and the conditions under which the canal could reopen. [5]

In Washington, Ashraf Ghorbal presented his credentials to President Richard Nixon on 19 April. Both men discussed restoring cooperation and extending it into economic affairs. Ghorbal’s reception returned an Egyptian ambassador to the White House after the rupture of 1967. [2]

Nixon visited Egypt in June. He and Sadat agreed on a joint cooperation commission and plans for trade, scientific work, and cultural exchanges. The governments also identified practical work ahead, including clearing the Suez Canal and supporting reconstruction. [3]

Related Diplomats

  1. Ashraf Abdel-Latif Ghorbal [2]

Sources

  1. The 1973 Arab–Israeli War

    Prewar diplomacy including Sadat–Kissinger channel; October 22–25 ceasefire negotiations and Soviet–American crisis

  2. Nixon receives Ambassador Ashraf Ghorbal’s credentials

    Exchange of remarks, Oval Office, 12:10 p.m.; Public Papers of Richard Nixon

  3. Principles of Relations and Cooperation Between Egypt and the United States

    Sections I–II and IV; Public Papers of Richard Nixon

  4. Kissinger’s report to Nixon on his meeting with Sadat and restored relations

    FRUS, 1969–1976, vol. XXVI, document 27, pp. 125–126; Nixon NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, box 133

  5. Office of the Historian: Shuttle Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Dispute

    January 1974 negotiations and Sinai I

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Egypt and the United States Restore Diplomatic Relations. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record f5e0b0208e9c4ea220cc. https://chanceries.org/research/history/egypt-relations-restored-1974-320a40458d/

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