Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood maintain close contact, Iran's foreign minister has said in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm.
"Tehran is in constant contact with the Muslim Brotherhood," said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
He said Iran is ready to promote its diplomatic relations with Egypt to the ambassadorial level, paricularly in light of the Muslim Brotherhood's recent ascendancy to power. The group's party, the Freedom and Justice Party, controls 43 percent of parliamentary seats.
Salehi told the paper that Iran would immediately send an ambassador to Cairo if Egypt agreed.
Some countries "are not happy about improving relations between Egypt and Iran," he said, adding that if Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia cooperated, all would benefit.
Egypt and Iran severed official ties in 1979, when Iran underwent an Islamic revolution and Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. However, relations have improved since a popular uprising forced former President Hosni Mubarak from power early last year.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
