EGYPT: Nation still annoyed by Iranian film

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It seems that Egypt will take too much time until it turns the page on a recent Iranian documentary that condemned the late President Anwar Sadat as a traitor and celebrated his assassination.

In a new move in protest of the movie ‘Execution of the Pharaoh,’ Egypt canceled last week a friendly football match with Iran that was set for Aug. 20 in the United Arab Emirates.

‘We have decided to cancel the match because of tensions in relations,’ said Samir Zaher, president of the Egyptian Football federation as quoted in the local press.

On its turn, the Iranian football federation vowed to file a complaint against Egypt with the FIFA, the federation governing football worldwide.

‘This is a political issue, and we will mention to FIFA that the Egyptians are mixing political issues with sports,’ said Ali Kafashian, the head of Iran’s Football Federation.

Zaher downplayed Iranian threats and affirmed that the Egyptian decision was driven by fears of the eruption of violence between Egyptian and Iranian supporters over the movie during the game.

Since the Egyptian press first reported its release a couple of weeks ago, the Iranian movie has provoked several angry reactions in Egypt, including a harsher media campaign against Iran and the annoucement of an anti-Ayatollah Khomeini movie. Simialar reactions may be still in the pipelines.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo from left: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Sadat in Camp David, where they concluded accords that led to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in the late 1970s.