Iran hopes Islamists will come to power in Egypt: Leader’s advisor
Tehran Times- A senior advisor to the Supreme Leader has said that Iran hopes that an Islamic government will be established in Egypt.
Ali Akbar Velayati, who is the director of the Permanent Secretariat of the World Assembly of the Islamic Awakening, made the remarks during a speech at an international conference on the late Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Awakening, which was held at the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran on Tuesday.
The conference was held on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, which was commemorated on Sunday.
During his speech, Velayati said, “Certain retrogressive and underdeveloped regional countries, in collaboration with the United States and the Zionist regime, are making efforts to prevent revolutions in Egypt and other Muslim countries from coming to fruition.”
“(But) we are witnessing that such efforts have fallen flat, and we hope that the Egyptian Islamist candidate will come to power so that we will see the victory of Egyptian revolutionaries,” added Velayati, who formerly served as foreign minister.
The first round of the Egyptian presidential election was held on May 23 and 24, and Mohamed Morsi, the chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, and Ahmed Shafiq, who formerly served as Egypt’s prime minister, will contest a run-off election on June 16 and 17.
“We hope that a government based on the will of the people will be established in Egypt,” Velayati noted, adding, “If an Islamist candidate is elected as president in the Egyptian election, we will witness developments in the Arab world.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Velayati stated, “We are living in a new era in the Muslim world and the contemporary history when the Islamic ummah has risen up and is seeking a return to Islamic values, and this is Islamic Awakening.”
He also commented on Imam Khomeini’s great contributions to the Muslim world and said that he “showed Muslims that they can return to the era of dignity.”