Cairo: Dozens of Egyptians, angered at allowing Iranians to visit the country on Friday attempted to storm the residence of the Iranian charge d’affaires in Cairo but were prevented by police, said witnesses.
The protesters, believed to be mostly ultra-conservative Islamist Salafists, also hurled stones at the residence in the eastern Cairo quarter of Heliopolis, added the witnesses.
It was not clear if the Iranian diplomat Amani Mojtaba was inside the house.
Security forces cordoned off the residence after minor clashes with the protesters who chanted slogans against Iran and Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi. “The Brotherhood has sold us off to Iran,” shouted some protesters, referring to the group Mursi belongs to.
The first group of Iranian tourists had arrived in Egypt earlier this week amid protests from Salafists who claim that Iran will use the trips to promote Shiism in the mostly Sunni Muslim country.
Egyptian authorities have repeatedly said that the Iranians would only go to holidaymaking spots outside Cairo and would not be allowed to visit mosques revered by Shiites.
Egypt hopes that an estimated 5 million Iranians will visit the country every year, helping to revitalise its tourism industry hard hit by street turmoil since Hosni Mubarak’s fall more than two years ago.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a historic visit to Egypt in February, signalling a thaw in ties between the two countries.
Since Mubarak’s ouster, Tehran has been courting Cairo to restore their full relations, severed in 1980. Iranian leaders have been encouraged by the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in post-Mubarak Egypt.
