The inauguration of Egypt's new parliament is an important step toward fulfilling public demands for the establishment of a regime based on Islam, said Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, in a letter on Wednesday. The letter was sent to Saad al-Katatny, People's Assembly speaker.
In the letter, Larijani extended his congratulations to Katatny and expressed pleasure that the latter had been elected as parliamentary speaker.
In the message, posted on Al-Alam channel online, Larijani also said he hoped that brotherly ties between the two countries would grow stronger.
Given the importance of parliamentary cooperation in the development of bilateral relations, Iran's parliament is ready to help promote parliamentary collaboration, Larijani said.
Ties between predominantly Sunni Egypt and mostly Shia Iran were severed in 1979 following Iran's Islamic revolution and the signing of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.
Under former President Hosni Mubarak, a close ally of the US who regularly met top Israeli officials, Iran and Egypt sparred for influence in the Middle East.
But relations between the two countries have improved since the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak on 11 February.
In May, former Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby said that Egypt's parliament should discuss whether to upgrade Egypt’s relations with Iran.
In November, Mojtaba Amani, director of the office for Iranian interests in Cairo, said he expected diplomatic relations between Cairo and Tehran to normalize after Egypt's parliamentary elections.
