Ahmadinejad: Iran Will Back Egypt On Its Path Toward Honor, Development

Tehran, April 29, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that Iran will stand by Egypt on its path towards honor and development adding that Tehran is ready to expand ties with Egypt in all areas. In a meeting with Essam El-Haddad, Egyptian presidentˈs assistant for foreign relations and external cooperation, Ahmadinejad hailed his recent visit to Egypt terming his talks with the country's officials as strategic. He said Iran-Egypt are among the most important countries in their regions, adding that if both countries stand by each other, all regional issues will be resolved. Joint enemies of the two countries and ill-wishers which are colonialists do not want Iran and Egypt to stand by each other, Ahmadinejad noted. On the Syrian crisis, the president said that Iran and Egypt share a close stance on Syria, adding in the Cairo meeting on Syria very good agreements were reached. If certain groups come to power in Syria through conflict, it will lead to insecurity for a long time and insecurity in Syria threatens the security of all regional countries. Essam El-Haddad, for his part, said that cooperation between Iran and Egypt can be registered as an historic event. He criticized the current relations between Tehran and Cairo saying time is ripe to improve bilateral ties. Hi voiced Egyptˈs willingness to put an end to violence and bloodshed in Syria as soon as possible and said ˈWe should prevent intervention of foreign countries in Syria by taking new initiatives.ˈ/end