Iranian Foreign Minister to Visit Tunisia Monday

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is expected in Tunisia Monday for a two-day visit, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The visit will be an opportunity to review means of strengthening bilateral ties and discuss regional and international issues of common interest," the statement said Saturday.

Tehran had congratulated Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party after its victory in the October polls that followed the popular revolt which had ousted longtime dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali nine months earlier.

In February 2011, days after Ben Ali's toppling sparked the so-called Arab Spring still sweeping the region, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had described the revolts as an "Islamic awakening".

The rapturous welcome given to Ennahda top leader Rached Ghannouchi when he flew back from exile in January 2011 drew comparisons with Ayatollah Khomeiny's 1979 return to Iran.

Ennahda, the dominant force in the new governing coalition, has caused concern among the country's secular forces that Tunisia's new-found freedom is being threatened by Muslim hardliners.