TEHRAN: Iran s official news agency says Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has congratulated his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on his disputed re-election. Monday s IRNA report did not provide further details, and news of the message was not carried by Egypt s state press. Relations between Egypt and Iran have been tense for three decades. Iran cut diplomatic ties after Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. More recently, Egypt and many other Sunni Arab countries have been wary of the growing power of Shia Persian Iran in the Mideast. Egypt has not publicly commented on Ahmadinejad s re-election, which the Iranian opposition believes was fraudulent. -AP
