Iran's parliament called the uprising in Egypt a “revolution of the noble” and said that Western backing of the Egyptian government was “backward.” According to Agence-France Presse, Parliament speaker Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency: "The voice of the brave people of Egypt is the voice of revolution. The start of this revolution has astonished the despotic regimes of the region."
"The parliament supports the uprising of the Tunisian and Egyptian people," Mr. Larijani added, describing the protests as "the revolution of the noble."
But Iran's political opposition is also backing the protests in Egypt, with opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi saying "what is underway is aimed at changing the tyrannical order gripping a large number of nations in the region," reports the Los Angeles Times.
Mr. Mousavi appeared to subtly compare the Egypt protests to the 2009 Iran protests, when Iranian government security forces brutally cracked down on Green Movement protesters in the streets of Tehran.
Iran’s government, however, sees Egypt’s protests as reminiscent of 1979, when the US-backed Shah and his government were overthrown in the Islamic Revolution.
