Iranian diplomats in Cairo, the Egyptian security services arrested for spying, was deported on Monday

 An Iranian diplomat in Cairo, arrested over spying charges by Egyptian security authorities, was deported on Monday, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported. The Iranian diplomat, identified as Qassem al-Husseini, worked at the Iranian diplomatic mission in Egypt, and was arrested Saturday in Cairo on suspicion of spying.

He was released by Egyptian Increased State Security Prosecution where he was questioned earlier on Sunday after Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed his diplomatic status. He left for Dubai on Monday.

Initial investigation showed that he has been gathering and sending to Tehran the economic, political and military intelligence info of Egypt after the political unrest, along with that of other Gulf countries and Yemen, in accordance with MENA.

He was aspect of a spy network that was trying to recruit agents in Arab Gulf countries, the official Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Egypt and Iran have had no standard diplomatic relation since 1979 when Cairo signed the peace treaty with Israel and offered asylum to Iran's deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Right after 30 years of strained ties, Egyptian and Iranian officials voiced their hope for normalization and improving long-frozen relations in between the two Islamic countries following the anti- government protests ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule in Egypt.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi met his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi last week on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Indonesia, and discussed the possibility of exchanging ambassadors with Iran.

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