Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since Tehran broke off diplomatic relations with Cairo in 1980. Iran has been engaged in something of a charm offensive toward Egypt, dispatching high-level officials and using state-controlled Iranian TV to promote rapprochement. However, deep divisions remain between the Sunni and Shiite rivals, which in addition to sectarian differences are locked on opposite sides of the three-way proxy war being waged inside Syria between Arab-backed opposition forces, the Iran-backed Damascus regime, and regional Kurdish groups. The Syrian issue especially has proven capable of stifling efforts at Egyptian-Iranian reconciliation.