Egypt violence tops agenda of Iran’s new FM

New Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the issue of deadly violence in Egypt will be high on his agenda.

“…The tragedy in Egypt must top the agenda, and as many consultations as possible must be held to stop this situation in Egypt, to protect the lives of innocent people from these conditions, and [to help] different groups [involved in the unrest] reach agreement peacefully,” Zarif said on Friday.

Zarif was approved by the Iranian parliament as foreign minister on Thursday.

Egypt has recently been the scene of a rising tide of violence, and mass rallies are underway at several mosques in Cairo in addition to other cities including Alexandria, Ismailia, Assiut and Tanta.

The protests come in reaction to the Wednesday massacre, which according to Egyptian health officials left at least 638 people dead.

On Wednesday, Egyptian security forces moved in to clear out thousands of supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi from two camps – one near the Raba’a al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo’s Nasr City and a smaller one in Nahda Square in Giza.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood put the death toll far higher, saying more than 2,000 people had died. It has vowed to peacefully defeat the military coup that led to Morsi’s ouster last month.

Egypt is currently under a month-long curfew and the interior minister has ordered police to use live ammunition in case of attacks against state buildings.

Tension has intensified in Egypt since July 3, when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi removed Morsi from office, declared the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.