The street may be renamed after a Palestinian boy killed early in the intifada

Iran's foreign ministry has asked for the change to Khaled Eslamboli Street, named after the assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

Egypt's visiting foreign minister Ahmad Maher described Sadat's peace deal with Israel as "a thing of the past" which should not obstruct ties with Iran.

The two broke off relations in 1980, over the Camp David accords.

Mr Maher said Iran and Egypt had common interests and should work with each other.

Correspondents say relations between the two countries were particularly bad during the 1980s, when Egypt supported Iraq in its war against Iran, but trade links improved during the 1990s.

Mural

Tehran city council members say they will consider the foreign ministry's request which would remove a major barrier to restoring ties.

After Sadat's assassination at a military parade in Cairo, Iran's revolutionary leadership named the street after his killer, Khaled Eslamboli.

A large mural of Eslamboli adorns a tall building on the street.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Egypt's President Mubarak met on the sidelines of the UN technology summit in Geneva in December, and he invited to Iran in February to attend the D-8 economic summit of developing nations.

But Egyptian sources president said Mr Mubarak would not visit Tehran and normalise relations unless public tributes to Eslamboli are erased.

Reports say the foreign ministry suggested the street should be renamed in honour of Muhammad al-Durrah, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot dead during the early days of the Palestinian intifada.