Cairo Court Jails Egyptian for Spying for Iran

Reuters: A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian to 35 years in prison Sunday after finding him guilty of spying for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and planning to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Reuters

CAIRO – A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian to 35 years in prison Sunday after finding him guilty of spying for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and planning to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The court gave Mahmoud Eid Mohamed Dabbous 10 years in prison for spying for a foreign state and another 25 years for plotting to kill Mubarak.

Iran has denied allegations Dabbous spied for its Revolutionary Guard. Dabbous said during his trial that he made confessions under pressure about planning to kill the president.

The court also sentenced in absentia Iranian diplomat Mohammad Reza Hosseindost to 25 years in prison for recruiting Dabbous and plotting terror attacks and political assassinations in Egypt.

Iran has not had full, formal diplomatic ties with Egypt since the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Tehran broke off relations because Egypt had signed a peace treaty with Israel. Hosseindost worked in the Iranian interests office in Cairo.