CAIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has expressed regret over the U.S. decision to decrease aid allocated under the U.S. assistance program to it, Egyptian foreign ministry said Wednesday.
"Egypt considers this step as a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that binds the two countries over decades, and reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt," the ministry said in a statement.
It also underestimates the size and nature of the economic and security challenges facing the Egyptian people, and implies a mixing of cards that may have negative repercussions on achieving Egyptian-American common interests, according to the statement.
Egypt expressed hope that the U.S. administration would deal with the program in a manner that recognizes and respects the vital importance of the assistance program to both countries' common interests.
U.S. media outlets have reported that the United States has decided to withhold some 290 million U.S. dollars in aid to Middle Eastern country due to its failure to contain human rights violations.
Egypt receives annual military aid of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, making it the second largest recipient of U.S. annual aid after Israel, Washington's top ally in the region.
