TEHRAN -- Senior Iranian officials have congratulated the Egyptian nation on their historic victory against Hosni Mubarak’s government.

“We congratulate the great Egyptian nation on this victory and we share their happiness,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a statement issued on Friday following Hosni Mubarak’s resignation from the presidency.
The Iranian foreign minister also pointed to the celebrations of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, which coincided with the great victory of the Egyptian nation, and said that the Iranian nation completely supports the “brave movement” of the Egyptian nation.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi called on the Egyptian army to play its historical role at this critical juncture and help the great Egyptian nation realize their aspirations.
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also praised the Egyptian people’s victory.
SNSC Secretary Saeed Jalili also said that Mubarak heard the voice of the Egyptian people too late, adding that the United States and Europe should explain why they have supported a dictator for 30 years.
Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani also congratulated the Egyptian people over their great victory, in which they toppled the country’s dictator.
The revolutionary people of Egypt were able to defeat the most powerful “regional and global devils” through unity, patience, resistance, and adherence to the Quran, he said in a statement published on Saturday.
Larijani also said that the events in Egypt and Tunisia are a wake-up call for other dictators who suppress their people and ignore their demands.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian parliament speaker called on the Egyptian army to side with the Egyptian people.
“The Egyptian army is facing a difficult test. If it stands with the people… it will enjoy the Muslim Egyptian nation’s support against the enemies, and if it stands against the people, it will be broken up with shattering blows arising from the people’s faith in God,” Larijani said.
After 18 days of protests and demonstrations by millions of Egyptians who called for the departure of Mubarak and the establishment of a democratic government, on Friday Mubarak decided to step aside and transfer power to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
The news was received with a roar of approval and rejoicing from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and later millions of Egyptians poured into the streets in all the cities across the country to celebrate the end of Mubarak’s three-decade rule.
Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, has urged the military to swiftly transfer power to a civilian government