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World Bulletin/News Desk

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will visit Egypt next week for talks on bilateral ties and the crisis in Syria, the ISNA news agency reported Saturday quoting an Iranian diplomat.

Salehi will meet with his counterpart Mohammed Kamel Amr and President Mohammed Morsi during his two-day visit which begins on January 9, said Mojtaba Amani, the head of Tehran's interests section in Cairo.

Salehi is expected to discuss "bilateral issues, the issue of Syria as well as other regional and international matters" with Egyptian officials, Amani said.

He said a meeting between Salehi and U.N.-Arab League peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was also likely to happen.

Salehi left Tehran on a tour of African nations on Saturday, which will take him to Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso.

The ISNA report did not specify whether Salehi's Cairo visit is part of a diplomatic mission or within the framework of a regional contact group on conflict-stricken Syria -- involving also Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Salehi was in Cairo in mid-September to attend the group's meeting, but as a foreign minister he has never visited Egypt for bilateral talks.