Senior Iranian adviser: Turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia result of US-Israeli plot

Senior Advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker Hossein Sheikholeslam condemned Washington's warmongering policies in the region, and said the current tumult in Egypt and Tunisia is the result of the US and Israeli plots against the region. "What is going on in Tunisia and Egypt is a US-Zionist plot," Sheikholeslam said, addressing a conference in Tehran on Sunday. The bloodshed has thrown Egypt into deeper turmoil weeks after the country's President Mohammad Mursi was overthrown by the army in the wake of mass protests against his rule. The unrest, resulting from mounting polarization between factions opposing and supporting Mursi, has claimed the lives of dozens and wounded hundreds since Mursi's expulsion from the presidency. The death toll from Friday and Saturday's clashes in Egypt rose to 80, according to a Health Ministry official Khaled El-Khatib. Also in Tunisia, a leading critic of Tunisia’s ruling party, the opposition leader and the leader of the People’s Party, Mohammed Brahmi, was shot dead outside his home earlier this week. It’s the second such assassination this year. The murder by unknown gunmen sparked angry street protests in central Tunis and in the opposition leaders’ hometown of Sidi Bouzid, where he served as MP. This is the second assassination that Tunisia has seen in the past six months. On February the 6th, the assassination of Chokri Belaid, another opposition figure, in front of his home also sparked a political crisis in Tunisia and charges of government involvement.