TEHRAN - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has said Iran is an “influential Islamic power” in the region, the London-based Asharq Alawasat reported on its website on Monday.

“We do not see Iran as a threat,” the minister told the pan-Arab daily.
Egypt supports Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology and insists on the need to avoid any military action against the country, Aboul Gheit stated.
He also said Iran should take the advice of Egyptian friends who are seeking peace in the region.
The West is trying to create the belief that Iran’s nuclear program is intended for military purposes, but actually no evidence has been found to that effect, he observed.
He also said Egypt does not follow the policy of creating division between Shia and Sunni and it is necessary to avoid terms like “Shia crescent” and the like