Egypt revolution, turning point and significant development: Iran FM

Salehi made the comments during a meeting with a group of Egyptians from all walks of life in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday.

    “Once Egypt passes the current transition period and a popular and elected government is formed, we hope to witness a new phase of development in the country that would serve the interests of Egyptians, the Islamic world, and, above all, the Palestinians,” he said.

Former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s despotic rule came to an end in February 2011, following a popular revolution in the North African country.

“The Iranian government and nation will never forget that Egypt was among the first nations that welcomed Iran's Islamic Revolution [in 1979],” the Iranian foreign minister noted.

In February 1979, the Iranian people's decades-long struggle against the regime of former monarch, Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, paid off as the Iranians toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime to end the 2,500-year-long reign of monarchical rule in the country.

Similarly, a wave of anti-dictatorship popular uprising that promptly became known as the Islamic Awakening has rocked the Middle East and North Africa over the past months, leading to the ouster of several regional dictators.

Salehi finally expressed hope that the "cycle of popular revolutions" in the region will soon be "completed" by the triumph of the Palestinians in their struggle against the Israeli occupation and the withdrawal of the occupiers from the Palestinian territories.