The Egyptian presidency has denied that President-elect Mohammed Mursi gave an interview to Iran's Fars agency on Monday, in which he had been reported to say that he was looking to expand ties with Tehran to create a strategic “balance” in the region.

“Mr. Mursi did not give any interview to Fars and everything that this agency has published is without foundation,” a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency told the official news agency MENA.

On Monday, the Fars news agency reported that its correspondent in Cairo interviewed Mursi hours before the official announcement of the election results and published the interview in an audio file on its website.

A spokesman for the Egyptian presidency told the official news agency MENA: “Mr. Mursi did not give any interview to Fars, and everything that this agency has published is without foundation.”

Fars had quoted him as saying he was interested in better relations with Tehran, Reuters reported. “This will create a balance of pressure in the region, and this is part of my program.”

Fars also quoted Mursi as saying that he wants to “reconsider” the peace deal with Israel, according to AFP.

“We will reconsider the Camp David Accord,” Mursi was quoted as telling a Fars reporter in Cairo on Sunday, just before his election triumph was announced. Diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt had been severed for more than 30 years.