Egypt released Iranian diplomat following spying investigation: MENA

Egypt released on Sunday an Iranian diplomat arrested over spying charges immediately after the Foreign Ministry confirmed his diplomatic status, state news agency MENA reported. The Iranian diplomat, identified as Qassem al-Husseini, was released by the Increased State Security Prosecution where he was questioned earlier on Sunday.

Husseini was arrested by Egyptian security authorities a handful of days ago in Cairo on charges of spying. He worked at the Iranian diplomatic mission in Egypt.

Initial investigation showed that he has been gathering and sending to Tehran the economic, political and military intelligence data of Egypt right after the political unrest, in addition to that of other Gulf countries and Yemen, according to MENA.

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

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

Immediately after 30 years of strained ties, Egyptian and Iranian officials voiced their hope for normalization and bettering long-frozen relations in between the two Islamic nations immediately after the anti- government protests ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year ruling in Egypt.

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

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