Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday compared the turmoil in Cairo to the period before the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 and described the recent events as an “Islamic awakening.”

Abul-Gheit said the comment “crossed all red lines by addressing Egypt’s internal issues through a hostile and hateful perspective.”

He said, “The hopes to establish an Islamic Middle East led by Iran reveal what the state seeks to achieve in the region.”