TEHRAN – Ahmad al-Tayyib, the chancellor of Al-Azhar University of Islamic Sciences in Cairo, has said he welcomes the expansion of ties between Arab countries and Iran.

Al-Tayyib made the remarks in a meeting with an Iranian delegation, headed by MP Naser Soudani, on Tuesday.
The meeting, which took place following the ouster of Hosni Mobarak, former president of Egypt, was of a great importance.
He expressed hope that “relations between Arab countries and Iran will improve,” and called for formulating a policy, which does not differentiate between Shiites and Sunnis, help the countries counter their joint threat.
He went on to say that Al-Azhar University supports the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST), but opposed what he called efforts to propagate Shiism among Sunnis.
Soudani delivered a message from Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to Al-Tayyib inviting him to travel to Iran