Iran terms overthrow of Morsi as improper

TEHRAN/ LONDON (AP) - Iran s foreign ministry on Sunday voiced disapproval of the toppling of Egypt s former president by the military, calling the move "improper" in its first official reaction to last week s events.

Official news agency IRNA quoted ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi as also saying that supporters of Mohammed Morsi should not give up in their efforts to reinstate him. Elections and not "the streets" should not decide who is president of Egypt, he added.

"Islamists and revolutionaries should not be frustrated," said Araghchi. "Arab Spring can be followed by warm summer and cold winter," too.

While Araghchi did not call the move a "coup," senior law maker Alaeddin Boroujerdi did use the term last Thursday, echoing declarations by Morsi and his backers.

Also on Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted that internal conflicts in Egypt would benefit Israel. "You, who are fighting each other in your country, be careful about your real enemy," he said.

Morsi, Egypt s first democratically elected president, ended more than three decades of diplomatic estrangement with Iran that began when Egypt offered refuge to Iran s deposed shah. Ties further deteriorated after Egypt s landmark peace deal with Israel.

Meanwhile, Mideast envoy Tony Blair has defended the Egyptian army s ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, saying the alternative would have been chaos.

Calling himself a "strong supporter of democracy," Blair said that democracy is not a substitute for decision making or a guarantee of effective government.

Acknowledging that millions of protesters on the streets are "not the same" as an election, he called the protests an "awesome manifestation of power" and show of "free democratic spirit."

In a column published Sunday in the Observer newspaper, Blair said the military had been confronted with the choice of intervention or chaos and insisted it is in the international community s best interest to engage with Egypt s new government.