CAIRO: Egyptian Mufti Ali Gomaa today refuted allegations lodged claiming that he made statements about the need to improve Egyptian-Iranian relations. “The Mufti did not issue any declarations about relations between Egypt and Iran to any news agencies,” Ibrahim Negm, an advisor to the Mufti, today told MENA. “The file as a whole is political, not religious, and should be taken up by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, not al-Azhar,” said Negm. “The Mufti always focuses on unification and bridging the gap between Muslims around the world.” Negm also demanded that the Iranian news agency IRNA apologize for making false accusations about the Mufti, and stressed the importance of objectivity when dealing with critical matters. A number of news websites earlier posted stories regarding statements made by Gomaa referencing relations between Iran and Egypt, claiming that improved relations would serve an Islamic interest.