An Egyptian security official says police have arrested an Iranian diplomat suspected of espionage in the wake of the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. The official said Sunday that Qassem al-Husseini, from the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, was also trying to recruit agents to work in Arab Gulf countries.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorised to brief the media. He says the prosecutors have started interrogating the diplomat.
Egypt and Iran don't have full diplomatic relations since 1979, when Tehran severed ties because Egypt made peace with Israel and gave asylum to Iran's shah deposed in the Islamic Revolution.