Egypt’s Islamist President-elect, Mohamed Morsi, has said that he wants to “reconsider” the 1979 peace deal with Israel.
“We will reconsider the Camp David Accord” that, in 1979, forged a peace between Egypt and Israel that has held for more than three decades, Morsi said in Cairo on Sunday, just before his election triumph was announced.
Morsi noted today that he wants to build ties with Iran to “create a strategic balance” in the Middle East.
“Part of my agenda is the development of ties between Iran and Egypt that will create a strategic balance in the region,” Morsi was quoted as saying.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday welcomed Morsi’s triumph.
He said the issue of Palestinian refugees returning to homes their families abandoned in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the 1967 Six-Day War “is very important”.
The islamist added though that “all these issues will be carried out through cabinet and governmental bodies because I will not take any decision on my own.”
Morsi also said he was ready to improve ties with Iran. The Islamic republic broke off diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1980, a year after Cairo signed the peace deal with the Jewish state.
Although Morsi resigned from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to take the top job, Israel is wary of his election, fearing his Islamist record could jeopardise the chilly peace it has long enjoyed with its huge neighbour.
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