From ALJAZEERA – English. Read below and tell me what you think about this:
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Morsi, Egypt’s first Islamist president, has been expected to improve ties with Tehran since his inauguration [EPA]
Egypt’s state news agency has reported that President Mohamed Morsi will visit Iran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement meetings on August 30.
MENA said Morsi’s visit will be the first such visit by an Egyptian head of state to Tehran since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
The agency quoted sources at the Egyptian presidency as saying on Saturday that Morsi “will participate in the summit” on his way back from China.
Egyptian media reports have suggested Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who won the poll in June, might send his newly appointed deputy, Mahmoud Mekki, instead.
Since Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising last year, Egypt and Iran have signalled interest in renewing ties severed more than 30 years ago after Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.
However, with the West pushing Iran to halt its disputed nuclear programme and the United States being a major donor to Egypt’s military, any improvement in ties could become a tricky path to tread.
Morsi said in June he would sue an Iranian news agency after it quoted him as saying he was interested in restoring relations with Tehran, although his aides later said the that interview was a fabrication.
Iran hailed Morsi’s victory as an “Islamic Awakening”, while Morsi himself is striving to reassure Egypt’s Western allies wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, and Gulf states that are deeply suspicious of Iranian influence.
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