10 September 2012 By Dr. Hamad Al-Majid President Mursi's visit to Iran was a
"masterstroke". True, the decision to visit in itself
was controversial due to the fact that Iran is the
main and strongest supporter of the al-Assad regime,
which is committing the most horrific crimes against
its own people in Syria. Yet in the eyes of his
critics Mursi's move shifted from a controversial
decision to an impressive one after his speech at the
Non-Aligned Movement summit, his outright condemnation
of the al-Assad regime, and his support for the Syrian
revolution to overthrow it. This foreign affairs
masterstroke could not have happened were it not for
the domestic masterstroke that preceded Mursi's travel
to Tehran, whereby the Egyptian President redressed
the balance of his presidency by gathering up any
loose ends and sacking his fiercest and most dangerous
rivals. This first domestic strike gave him the
confidence to deliver the latter strike on the
international stage. Iran had intended to hold a
conference of those "non-aligned" with the major
states, whilst President Mursi used the opportunity to
emphasize that Egypt is not "aligned" with Iran, and
now many of his former critics have opted to side with
him in support. By all accounts, Mursi's rightful condemnation of
the Syrian regime and his support for the people's
revolution to overthrow Bashar al-Assad is an indirect
rebuke to Iran, which champions al-Assad's injustice
and supports him financially, militarily,
internationally and in the media. Mursi drew a
parallel between the suffering of the Palestinian and
Syrian peoples, as a result of being suppressed by the
Israeli and Syrian regimes respectively, and this was
another masterstroke geared to evoke the Iranian
revolution's claim to support the disadvantaged and
oppressed. As such it was not surprising to see
confusion and embarrassment on the faces of the
Iranian leadership because of Mursi's surprising
speech, and official translators became embroiled in a
scandal by falsifying the words of a president and
lying about what he said in broad daylight. During the
speech they changed the word Syria to Bahrain and
omitted Mursi's references to the prophet's
companions. Indeed, these indirect sectarian exchanges
resemble something of a cold war between Presidents
Mursi and Ahmadinejad, for while the former praised
all companions of the prophet, the later only praised
"al-Muntajibin", a select number of companions that
are recognized under the Shiite doctrine and can be
counted on one hand; a group that certainly does not
include Abu Bakr, Omar or Othman, peace be upon them
all. In my estimation, Mursi wanted to direct a strong
message through his explicit praise of the caliphs,
mentioning them all by name and describing them as
"our masters". He could have avoided this Shiite
minefield, especially as he was in Tehran, the Shiite
stronghold, and under the hospitality of the
doctrine's custodians, but by offering prayers to all
the ahl al-Bayt [companions and relatives of the
prophet], and by focusing on the names of the Rightly
Guided Caliphs, it was as if Mursi was giving a
lecture on the virtues of the prophet's companions
rather than a political speech at the Non-Aligned
Movement summit. The Egyptian president was sending a
message to the Iranian leadership, namely that the
Muslim Brotherhood's discourse, which discourages
confrontation with followers of the Shiite sect and
seeks to work with them in partnership, regardless of
sectarian differences, has been exploited by Iran's
leaders in a depraved manner. Tehran has sought to
cause a rift in Egypt's harmonious sectarian fabric by
proselytizing Shiism and increasing the number of
Shiites there, in order to serve as a vehicle for
Iranian political influence. This has actually
happened in a large number of Sunni countries around
the world, but Mursi wanted to stress the stature of
Egypt and its weight, not only politically but also in
an Islamic sense, and to say that Egypt alongside
Saudi Arabia have the honor of defending the Sunni
world that Iran is trying to penetrate and dismantle
regularly. The question of supporting and strengthening this
Egyptian position towards Iran remains the most
important in this context. Ideological rivalries must
be put to one side within the new Egyptian leadership
to promote a strong Egyptian stance towards Tehran,
increase Iran's isolation, and pressure the Syrian
regime and its Iranian ally, as argued by the British
newspaper The Independent. This stance towards Tehran,
coming from one of the key symbols of the Muslim
Brotherhood movement in Egypt, can serve to shake up
the rest of the Brotherhood's branches' relations with
Iran, especially Hamas. In short, the latest Egyptian
position in Tehran is a golden opportunity to continue
to exhaust Iranian influence in the Arab world, and
then finish it off.
Dr. Hamad Al-Majid is a journalist and former
member of the official Saudi National Organization for
Human Rights. Al-Majid is a graduate of Imam Muhammad
Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh and holds an
M.A. from California and a Doctorate from the
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