Egypt can make it through crisis unharmed: Iranian foreign minister

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed optimism that Egypt will weather the ongoing crisis through convergence among the Egyptian people.

“Egypt holds an important position in the region, and we hope that all sides [to the Egyptian conflict] and the political elite can, through convergence, take steps toward the strengthening of the country’s national unity,” said Salehi in a Tuesday telephone conversation with Egypt’s interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy.

Egypt has been the scene of rival rallies, often resulting in deadly clashes, since July 3, when the country’s army ousted President Mohamed Morsi in what has been described by the supporters of Morsi as “a military coup.” The military also installed Chief Justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court Adli Mansour as the country’s interim president on July 4.

The Egyptian military has said that it is holding Morsi “preventively.” Meanwhile, Morsi’s family have said they plan to sue the military for having “kidnapped” the ousted president.

The latest clashes in Egypt took the lives of at least seven people on Monday.

In his conversation with Fahmy, the Iranian foreign minister also expressed hope that Iran and Egypt would soon be able to discuss issues of key bilateral concern, including the issue of Palestine and a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

Fahmy, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the conversations held between Iran and Egypt so far, and said, “We hope we can exchange views, as soon as possible, on issues of [mutual] interest and important regional matters in an appropriate opportunity.”

The Iranian foreign minister had discussed the latest developments in Egypt with the North African country’s interim Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei on July 13.