TEHRAN Iran's President Mohammad Khatami called here Saturday for further expansion of ties between Iran and Egypt, in another green light for rapprochement after last June he spoke on phone with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, the first by the presidents of the two countries since they severed ties.

He told the Egyptian Mufti Nasr Farid Muhammad Vassel, a member of the delegation from Al-Azhar University that "as two strong wings in the Islamic world, Tehran and Cairo are set to fly again."

Khatami said, "Difference is the key to the success of mankind", noting that such differences should not turn into clashes.

The Iranian president also reaffirmed previous calls by the Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who last Tuesday called on Muslim nations worldwide to be united.

Khatami stressed that division is a consequence of differences in opinion on political issues.

The Egyptian mufti also called on Tehran and Cairo to bolster political, economic and cultural ties to dishearten the enemies.

Iran and Egypt broke off ties after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979 and in protest against Anwar Sadat's signing of the Camp David peace treaty with Israel, and also its offering a save haven to Iran's ousted monarch Mohammadreza Pahlavi who later died in Cairo.

The Khatami-Mubarak phone contact was the first high-level contact of the two countries after more than two decades.

During their telephone talk, Mubarak congratulated Khatami on a decision adopted by the Group 15 of developing countries at a summit in Cairo to accept Iran's application for membership.

Thereafter, on July 10 and 11, Iran and Egypt also held round-table talks in Tehran.

(IRNA)