Just hours after Mohammed Morsi delivered his conciliatory first speech as Egypt's president-elect, Iran dropped a bombshell: According to a report on Fars, Iran's semi-official news agency, the new Egyptian leader had told an Iranian reporter that he planned to transform the political landscape of the Middle East. Morsi, Fars reported, was "enthusiastic" about expanding ties with Tehran, aiming to create "a strategic balance" in the region. In addition, the report said, Morsi would "reconsider" the Camp David Accord, Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.
The news threatened to puncture Washington's hopes for a constructive, cooperative relationship with a democratic Egypt and its Muslim Brotherhood president. And it seemed to confirm the worst fears of Israelis.
But before anyone had a chance to fully digest the announcement’s implications, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency categorically denied the report, calling it a "fabrication."