CAIRO, Egypt , Feb. 1--A visiting senior official of Iran on Thursday condemned sectarian disagreements in the Middle East and expressed its rejection to sedition between Sunnis and Shiites.
Supreme Leader’s Advisor Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri made the remarks after his talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.
He also expressed Iran’s keenness to work together with Egypt to resolve Middle East’s pressing issues including Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, and to upgrade the diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt.
On the situation of Gaza border, Nateq-Nouri hailed Mubarak’s efforts to let open Rafah crossing to Gazans to get food and other daily necessities in short supply, expressing Iran’s readiness to offer any assistance to the Palestinian people.
The Iranian official reiterated his country’s support for Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty, adding that Iran supports Hezbollah because of its courageous stand in the face of Israeli hegemony.
On Egypt’s plans to build nuclear power-generating plants, Nateq-Nouri highlighted support for all countries over their rights to access nuclear technology in accordance with international law, especially as oil resources were beginning to run out.
He also expressed Iran’s resolve to carry on with its nuclear program despite of US threats, dismissing as unlikely a US attack on Iran as the United States was still stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan amid the preoccupation with the presidential elections and economic woes.
On Wednesday, Mubarak held talks with visiting Speaker of the Iranian Majlis (parliament) Gholamali Haddad Adel, a rare high-level meeting since the two countries froze bilateral ties in 1980.
Iran and Egypt currently only have interest sections in each other’s capital. Bilateral relations have witnessed gradual improvement in recent years.
Both Nouri and Hadad are in Cairo, on a landmark visit, to attend the conference of parliamentarians from Islamic countries.
A landmark phone call between Presidents Mubarak and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week gave more strength to the possibility of an imminent resumption of ties.

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar

BUSHEHR, Feb. 1--Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said here Thursday that Iran’s military is no threat to any country in the Middle East.
The United States is trying to demonize Iran and “introduce it as a threat to peace and security in the Middle East. Our armed forces are not threatening any country in the region,“ he said in Bushehr, southern Iran, IRIB reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cabinet are on a 4-day tour of the key port city to inspect first-hand development projects and meet the people. Iran’s first civilian nuclear power plan is being built in this city with Russian help and is scheduled to go on stream later this year.
Referring to the strategic role and influence of the Persian Gulf for global peace and commerce, he said Iran will obviously not allow any foreign forces to undermine the security of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
During his tour in the Middle East late last month, George Bush embarked on a tightly scheduled anti-Iran venture but failed to convince Persian Gulf Arab rulers to join his pro-Israeli campaign to isolate Tehran for refusing to toe the American line.
In his obsolete yet inflammatory language the diminished American president accused Tehran of defying international (read western) public opinion, supporting “terrorism“ by helping Hamas and Hizbullah to resist Israel’s criminal occupation, enriching uranium for allegedly military purpose, destabilizing the regionÉ
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini rejected Bush’s old clichŽs against Iran as “insignificant“ and said the “statements are signs of desperation, hopelessness and failure in his last year“ in the White House.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 1--One of Iraq’s most influential Sunni politicians planned to meet with the Iranian ambassador to discuss the security situation and other issues on Thursday, but Iraqi soldiers prevented the diplomat from reaching the talks, officials said.
The Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was turned back at an Iraqi army checkpoint near Adnan Al-Dulaimi’s compound in the Adil neighborhood in western Baghdad, according to officials from both sides, AP reported.
Security has been stepped up in the volatile area after car bombs and other explosives were found there in late November.
The incident appeared to be due to a communications mix-up as Al-Dulaimi’s office had not given the Iraqi army proper notice about the expected visit, a director in the Iranian ambassador’s office said.
Meanwhile, a top Iraqi diplomat said Wednesday his country’s relations with Iran were improving and downplayed the role of the US presidential election campaign on the timing and manner of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
“The question of withdrawal is not up to the Republicans or Democrats to decide now,’’ Iraq ’s Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi said during a speech at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs.
The reality, he added, was that the United States had political and economic interests in the region and “cannot abandon Iraq ... and other countries.’’
He said an upcoming visit to Iraq--probably in March--by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would help further “strengthen our ongoing relationship.’’