TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Wednesday voiced deep concern and regret about the death sentence handed down in Egypt for President Mohamed Mursi.

"The challenges of this country (Egypt) can only be resolved by referring to public votes and electoral and known democratic mechanisms based on national dialogue and political agreement," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said, expressing Iran's worry about the death sentence issued for Mursi.

She further pointed to the weight of Egypt and its role in the region, and said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran also believes that methods that are based on monopolizing, suppression, resort to violence and terror will only weaken Egypt and prevent the country from restoring its historical role and status in the region and the world."

Last month a court in Egypt sentenced Mursi along with 105 others to death for a mass prison break in 2011 during the country�s revolution against long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Then another Cairo court on Tuesday upheld the death sentences issued for the alleged plotting of jailbreaks and attacks on police during the 2011 revolution.

The death sentences were to be referred to the Grand Mufti, Egypt�s highest religious authority, for consultative review and confirmation of death sentences. The Grand Mufti's verdict is non-binding on the court.

Mursi had also been given a 20-year prison term in a separate trial in April on charges of protester deaths in 2012. The case stemmed from the deaths and torture of demonstrators outside his presidential palace in December 2012.

Mursi, the country�s first democratically-elected president, was ousted in July 2013 in a military coup led by the former head of the armed forces and the current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

By Fars News Agency