AFP: An Iranian diplomat in Egypt, briefly detained on suspicion of spying, was expelled on Monday, the official MENA news agency reported.
CAIRO, May 30, 2011 (AFP) – An Iranian diplomat in Egypt, briefly detained on suspicion of spying, was expelled on Monday, the official MENA news agency reported.
Qasim al-Hosseini was briefly detained before being told he had to leave the country. He left for Dubai on Monday.
An initial investigation found he had gathered “information about Egypt on the latest developments the country has experienced and the conditions through which it is passing, then sent them to Iran’s intelligence services,” MENA had said.
The Iranian interests section in Cairo had denied that Hosseini was arrested.
Iran and Egypt do not have full diplomatic ties, and relations between the two countries were tense under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Tehran severed diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1980 in protest at Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel signed a year earlier, and the two states maintain only interests sections in each other’s capitals.
But the two Muslim countries have signalled they plan to mend ties in the wake of the fall of Mubarak’s regime on February 11 this year.
