Ahmadinejad invites Morsi to Tehran summit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Morsi to wish the politician success and to invite him to a summit in Tehran, the Egyptian state news agency reported. The call appeared to be the first contact between the two leaders since Morsi was sworn in as president of Egypt, a country which has not had diplomatic relations with Tehran for 30 years. Ahmadinejad invited Morsi to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement scheduled to be held in Tehran on August 29, the state news agency said, quoting Morsi's spokesman, but it did not say whether he had accepted the invitation. Ties between Cairo and Tehran were severed in 1980 following Iran’s Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel. Morsi has denied giving an interview to Iran’s Fars news agency which had quoted him as voicing interest in restoring the long-severed ties between the countries. Morsi’s spokesman said last week the interview never took place and that Morsi would sue the news agency. Fars had quoted him as saying he was interested in better relations with Tehran, Reuters reported. “This will create a balance of pressure in the region, and this is part of my program.” Fars also quoted Morsy as saying that he wants to “reconsider” the peace deal with Israel, according to AFP. Iran has previously hailed Morsi’s victory over former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq in Egypt’s first free presidential election as a “splendid vision of democracy” that marked the country’s “Islamic Awakening.” Morsi, however, is striving to reassure Egypt’s Western allies wary about Islamists coming to power, and Gulf states that are suspicious of Iranian influence, and is unlikely to stage major foreign policy reversals so soon after taking office.