By Xinhua
Cairo : A visiting senior official of Iran on Thursday condemned sectarian disagreements in the Middle East and expressed its rejection to sedition between Sunnis and Shiites, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.
Iranian Supreme Leader’s Advisor Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri made the remarks after his talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
He also expressed Iran’s keenness to work together with Egypt to resolve Middle East’s pressing issues including Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, and to upgrade the diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt.
On the situation of Gaza border, Nateq-Nouri hailed Mubarak’s efforts to let open Rafah crossing to Gazans to get food and other daily necessities in short supply, expressing Iran’s readiness to offer any assistance to the Palestinian people.
The Iranian official reiterated his country’s support to Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty, adding that Iran supports Hezbollah because of its courageous stand in face of the Israeli hegemony.
On Egypt’s plans to build nuclear power-generating plants, Nateq-Nouri highlighted support to all countries over their rights to access nuclear technology in accordance with international law, especially as oil resources were beginning to run out.
He also expressed Iran’s resolve to carry on with its nuclear program despite of U.S. threats, dismissing as unlikely a U.S. attack on Iran as the United States was still stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan amid the preoccupation with the presidential elections and economic woes.
On Wednesday, Mubarak held talks with visiting Speaker of the Iranian Majlis (parliament) Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, a rare high-level meeting since the two countries froze bilateral ties in 1980.
Iran and Egypt currently only have interest sections in each other’s capital. The bilateral relations have witnessed gradual improvement in recent years.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly said that Iran was ready to reopen its embassy in Egypt in a bid to thaw the two countries’ frozen relations.