DUBAI - Egypt's Islamist President-elect Mohamed Morsi has said he wants to restore long-severed ties with Tehran to create a strategic "balance" in the region, in an interview published on Monday with Iran's Fars news agency. Morsi's comments may unsettle Western powers as they seek to isolate Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, which they suspect it is using to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies this. Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were severed more than 30 years ago, but both countries have signalled a shift in policy since former president Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year in a popular uprising. "We must restore normal relations with Iran based on shared interests, and expand areas of political co-ordination and economic co-operation because this will create a balance of pressure in the region," Morsi was quoted as saying in a transcript of the interview. Rivalry between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite giant Iran has been intensified by "Arab Spring" revolts, which have redrawn the political map of the Middle East and left the powerful Gulf neighbours vying for influence. Fars said it had spoken to Morsi a few hours before the result of the vote was announced on Sunday. Asked to comment on reports that, if elected, his first state visit would be to Riyadh, Morsi said: "I didn't say such a thing and until now my first international visits following my victory in the elections have not been determined". Iran subsequently hailed Morsi's victory over former general Ahmed Shafiq in Egypt's first free presidential election as a "splendid vision of democracy" that marked the country's final phase of an "Islamic Awakening". The West, Gulf states and Israel reacted with caution to the result, welcoming the democratic process that led to Morsi's election, but stressing that Egypt's stability was their main priority.
