Morsi denies report he seeks to strengthen ties with Iran
Israel Hayom | Morsi denies report he seeks to strengthen ties with Iran.
( We’re left to ponder, “Who is more likely or motivated to lie about this, Iran or the Muslim brotherhood?” Iran clearly wants in on the new Islamic action in Egypt. Morsi clearly doesn’t want to lose American support two days into his term. I concluded that they are both lying. We just don’t know about what yet. – JW )
Yasser Ali, a Morsi aide, tells Reuters that the report regarding new Egyptian president’s alleged intent to renew ties with Tehran are false • “What was taken as statements has no basis in truth,” says Ali • White House: “We look to Egypt to continue its significant role as a pillar of regional peace and stability.”
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Egypt’s Islamist President-elect Mohammed Morsi arrives at his new presidential office for the first time.
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Photo credit: AFP
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A report by Iran’s Fars news agency Monday [http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4830] that Egypt’s Islamist President-elect Mohammed Morsi had voiced interest in restoring long-severed ties with Tehran to create a strategic “balance” in the region was denied shortly after by a Morsi aide, who said the interview never took place.
Yasser Ali, a Morsi aide, told Reuters: “There was never a meeting with the Iranian news agency Fars and what was taken as statements has no basis in truth.”
According to Fars, Morsi also said that Egypt’s Camp David peace accord with Israel “will be reviewed.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has congratulated Morsi on his win. In a statement on Monday, Hezbollah, an organization listed by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist group, said it hopes Morsi will “restore Egypt’s status on the Arab and Islamic level,” the Egypt Independent reported. During Hosni Mubarak’s reign, Hezbollah and Iran operated cells inside Egypt to destabilize the country. In August 2009, Egyptian security forces broke up a large Hezbollah terrorist cell which was planning a string of major attacks in the country.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he respected the results of Egypt’s democratic process and hoped the peace agreement between the two countries would remain intact. “We look forward to working together with the new government on the basis of our peace treaty,” said Netanyahu.
“I believe that the peace agreement is important for Israel, I believe it is important for Egypt, I believe that peace is the vital interest of both countries, and I believe that peace is the basis for stability in the region,” Netanyahu added.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that “Israel respects the democratic process in Egypt and expects, of course, that the new Egyptian leadership will conduct itself within the framework of all international understandings and agreements in a way that preserves the foundations of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, which is a cornerstone for stability in the Middle East and important for both sides to the best of our knowledge.”
Barak went on to say that the elections in Egypt represented “an important change in the region, the results of which will take time to completely understand. As with any other thing, there are opportunities but also challenges.”
On its web page, Fars published a transcript and an audio of the conversation. Reuters was unable to verify the recording but the man purported to be Morsi did not sound exactly like him.
Since Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was toppled, both Cairo and Tehran have signaled interest in renewing ties severed more than 30 years ago.
Morsi, however, striving to reassure Egypt’s western allies wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, is unlikely to stage major foreign policy reversals so early in his rule.
In a message to Morsi on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated him for winning the vote.
“I emphasize expanding bilateral ties and strengthening the friendship between the two nations,” Ahmadinejad wrote, according to state television.
When asked about the possibility of Cairo and Tehran restoring relations, White House spokesman Jay Carney stressed Egypt’s vital role in the region.
“It is perfectly appropriate for a nation like Egypt to have relations with its neighbors, but again we look to Egypt to continue its significant role as a pillar of regional peace and stability,” Carney said aboard Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to New Hampshire.
Western diplomats say in reality Egypt has little real appetite to change relations with Iran significantly, given the substantial issues the new president already has to face in cementing relations with regional and global powers.
“Iran is hoping for Egypt to become a deterrent against an Israeli attack as well as a regional player that Iran can use as a potential counterbalance against Turkey and Saudi Arabia,” said a diplomat based in Tehran.
“Egypt, at least under present circumstances, would side with either of these against Iran.”
WarSclerotic 
June 26, 2012 at 3:10 PM
From the infancy of the islamic revolution in Iran, Khomeini learned from Sayyid Qutb, the greatest ideologue of the egyptian muslim brotherhood. In the end, they are one when it will be the time to deal with the ” west problem ” – from their point of view. Qutb is, in fact, the spiritual father of today islamic jihad. The egyptian muslim brotherhood were in close links with the nazis, too. They took care that their people will read ” Mein Kampf ” and learned from it.
The nightmare that Mubarak tried to prevent is blowing in our faces as we speak.