Egypt's Morsi invited for non-aligned summit in Iran

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi Wednesday got an official invitation from his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to attend a major summit in Tehran later this month, reported state media, reported dpa.

The invitation was conveyed by Iranian Vice President Hamid Baghaei at a meeting with Morsi in Cairo.

Leaders from the Non-Aligned Movement countries are due to meet in Tehran on August 29-30 for a regular summit.

Egypt is to hand over the rotating presidency of the movement to Iran at the Tehran summit.

It is not clear yet if Morsi, Egypt's first elected Islamist president, would attend the summit or send a delegate.

In June, Ahmadinejad congratulated Morsi on his election and called his victory an "Islamic awakening in the region," according to Iranian state television.

Baghaei's visit is the first by a senior Iranian official to Egypt since a popular revolt deposed Hosny Mubarak from power last year.

Iran and Egypt have had no diplomatic ties since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution because of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. But the two countries cooperate on diplomatic affairs at a non-ambassadorial level. dpa raf ncs Author: Ramadan Al-Fatash