Egyptian president to side with China and Iran to rebalance the region: strategist

TEHRAN,Aug.26(MNA) – Michael Hughes, a foreign policy strategist at the Washington-based New World Strategies Coalition,said that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is going to side with China and Iran to rebalance the region. In an interview with RT published on Saturday, Hughes said Egypt needs immediate cash from the U.S., the IMF, and the Persian Gulf monarchies, but “in the long term (the Egyptians) want to get better with China, who can fill the gap so that they don’t have to rely on the West anymore.” The foreign policy analyst also said that the feeling between Cairo and Tehran is mutual. “The unspoken link here is Israel,” Hughes said, adding, “Here’s the connection, for Morsi starts looking like a geopolitical genius. If he can pull this off, if he can make Israel to step back with the whole ‘bombing Iran’ thing – that would be pretty amazing.” “After all, if Egypt finds Iran as a partner they don’t have to rely on the U.S. or Israel, and they can offset and counterbalance the (Persian) Gulf monarchies,” he said. “It’s an interesting dynamic. Even though the Muslim Brotherhood are Sunni – and Iran is Shia – they have a lot in common against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said. In addition, Hughes said, “Morsi is pretty brilliant. He has an endgame in mind. We don’t know what it is. We hope it’s not a caliphate.” “I think Iran and Egypt – they are going to offset the Saudi and the U.S.,” he concluded.