Syrian man attempts to attack Iran’s Ahmadinejad in Cairo: report

A Syrian man tried to attack Iranian President Ahmadinejad upon leaving al-Hussein mosque in Cairo, where he was performing al-Maghrib prayer.

Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday that Ahmadinejad was leaving al-Hussein mosque, when a young man with “a Syrian accent” attempted to hit him. However, the Egyptian security forces managed to seize and arrest the man following the incident.

The attacker, who was heard chanting anti-Iranian slogans due to Tehran’s support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, said “they killed our brothers.”

The news agency reported that a dispute took place between two persons in the mosque while Ahmadinejad was present; the first was carrying a banner stating “come to Egypt safe and sound, God willing,” while another read: “they killed our brothers and we tell them to come here safely.”

The Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi received the Iranian president at Cairo Airport.

Ahmadinejad attended the Islamic Solidarity Organization conference that began on Tuesday and will run until Wednesday in Cairo.

It’s the first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, which resulted in ruptured diplomatic ties between Egypt and Iran.