The decision of Egypt's Court of Cassation to overturn former president Mohamed Morsi's life sentence will have a positive impact on both Egypt's domestic affairs and the situation in the region, expert in the Middle East and former editor-in-chief of Iranian agency MehrNews Hassan Hanizadeh told Sputnik Persian.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran looks at the cancellation of the life sentence for former president Mohamed Morsi by Egypt's Court of Cassation from a humanitarian point of view. Undoubtedly, this trial is Egypt's internal matter. However, Iran closely monitors the ongoing event in the country with great concern and caution. It should be noted that the imposition of the death penalty upon the former president of Egypt would not lead to anything good, but would create ambiguous situation in the country," Hanizadeh believes.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, Egyptian expert in criminal law Shauki as-Sayed clarified that the decision of Egypt's Court of Cassation to abolish capital punishment for Morsi could have been caused by a lack of evidence.
Hanizadeh underscored that given Morsi's connections with the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was outlawed by the Sisi government, the imposition of the death sentence upon the former leader could backfire at Cairo and lead to social turmoil in Egypt.
"One can safely say that there is a smooth and good collaboration between various political groups [in Egypt]: the Islamists, moderates, nationalists and even supporters of the incumbent President Abdel Fattah Sisi… The region views this as a step towards stability," the expert emphasized.
Hanizadeh believes that it is time for countries of the region to team up and focus on solving the ongoing regional crises, taking interests of all regional players into consideration.
The expert highlighted the importance of Russia's efforts to solve the Syrian crisis. According to Hanizadeh, the international community should lend its sympathetic ear to Moscow to bring the six-year Syrian conflict to an end.
"Such an approach can help them prevent the spread of the crisis which may affect their own countries," the expert noted.
"As for Egypt, it is a country with great potential — from both geographical and political points of view — to solve [Middle Eastern] regional problems. It is time for Egypt to join the Russo-Iranian alliance to resolve the Syrian conflict, the Yemeni crisis and even the crisis in Iraq," he emphasized.
"This is especially important in light of the threat posed by such terrorist groups as Daesh," Hanizadeh highlighted adding that Cairo can play an active part in elimination of the terrorist groups in the region.
