Egyptian parliament speaker described talks as the proper means of confrontation with the West, adding that the world countries should resort to negotiations to resolve their problems and to prevent US President George W. Bush from becoming another Neron. Fathi Sarvar made the remarks in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Gholam Ali Haddad Adel on the sidelines of the 117th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva on Tuesday.
“We are now experiencing an era of the United States’ political foolishness and to confront this foolishness, all Islamic countries should practice solidarity and vigilance and launch extensive consultations with each other,” the Egyptian speaker said.
“Iran is a powerful country and this power is beneficial to all Muslims and the region,” he continued.
The speaker of the Egyptian People’s Assembly further pointed to the western power’s unjustified confrontation with Iran, and said, “Super powers are striving to interfere in Iran’s affairs. They incited the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein to invade Iran and this traitor was overthrown by the same people who had incited him.”
Regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, he said, “Iran is standing with much honor in dealing with its nuclear issue and this (very honor) is a source of displeasure for the United States.”
“We are siding with Iran and we announce our opposition to any kind of threat and aggression against Iran because we are all Islamic countries,” the Egyptian speaker underscored.
He further described Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria as the main four countries with pivotal roles in the region, and said, “These countries should have mutual understanding and interaction and they should cooperate with each in such issues as nuclear energy.”
He also voiced opposition to the US Senate resolution for the disintegration of Iraq, saying that division of that country would undermine Baghdad’s power.
“Through this plan, the United States is actually pursuing its goals against Iran in an indirect manner,” Sarvar added.
For his part, the Iranian speaker noted the importance of cooperation between Iran and Egypt, and said, “Throughout the history, the world of Islam has succeeded in reaching the peaks of success through using its two eastern and western wings, i.e. Iran and Egypt, and we believe that they (Iran and Egypt) can play a role in the promotion of the world of Islam in the contemporary era as well.”
He further described the recent visit to Egypt by Iranian deputy foreign minister as a positive step towards the resumption and promotion of Tehran-Cairo relations, and expressed the hope that the measure would result in increased cooperation between Iran and Egypt and enhanced unity among the world Muslims.
Elsewhere, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel warned about the Untied State’s present threats to the world of Islam, and said, “It seems that the United States is seeking to play the same role in the 21st century that Britain fulfilled in dividing the Middle-East after the World War I.”
Reminding that Britain portrayed a new map for the Middle-East at the end of the World War I, he said, “and we are now witnessing that the US seeks to bring the region under its own hegemony through its proposal for the division of Iraq, but it should know that the conditions have differed a lot from what existed around a hundred years ago and the world of Islam has woken up and is vigilant now.”