News about the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is reverberating in the streets of Iraq and Iran. Both societies are preoccupied with concerns about democracy and building a civil state. However, reactions took two different directions among Iranian and Iraqi intellectual elite circles.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a congratulatory telegram to Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, expressing his support for the Egypt’s popular choice. Salman al-Moussawi, an MP in Maliki’s coalition, said, "The reason behind the downfall of Morsi is that he became subject to the control of the Salafists. This proves that the Arab street rejects extremist religious rule.”