Tehran: Students slam Egypt for 'collaborating' with Israel
Students demonstrate outside Egyptian offices in capital in protest of country's alleged cooperation with 'Zionist regime' against Gaza
Dozens of Iranian students staged a demonstration against Egypt in Tehran on Monday, protesting "the Zionist regime's severe crimes in Gaza and Egypt's collaboration with the pressure exerted on the Palestinian people."
The demonstration was held in front of the offices of the bureau representing Egypt's interests in Tehran. The students held up signs glorifying former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's assassin Khalid Islambouli, as well as signs against its current president Hosni Mubarak. Some of the banners read, "Death to Mubarak" and "Mubarak is betraying the world of Islam."
According to state-run news agency IRNA, the students also chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" and burned an Israeli flag. One of the students reportedly waved a Hizbullah flag.
Several similar demonstrations were held in Tehran in the last week opposite the embassies of other Arab countries perceived to be cooperating with Israel by failing to push for a lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The diplomatic ties between Iran and Egypt were cut off in 1979 when the latter signed a peace treaty with Israel. However, in the last year the two countries have been testing the waters for a possible resumption of the ties.
Another bone of contention between the countries is the fact that one of the streets in Tehran named after Sadat's killer Islambouli.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi also commented Monday on the situation in Gaza, and called on human rights advocates to put a stop to what he defined as "the human tragedy" taking place in the Strip.
"It's deeply saddening to see children crying for milk, students forbidden from going to school and the slaughtering of innocent people," he stated.
