The World - News from Jan. 8, 1988

Egyptian authorities arrested an alleged Iranian intelligence agent and accused him of trying to establish an anti-government group in a plot to “export the Iranian revolution,” the state-controlled press reported. Cairo newspapers said the agent, whose name and nationality were not disclosed, was directed by an Iranian diplomat identified as Mahmoud Mohtadi. The former Iranian charge d’affaires in Cairo, Mohtadi was expelled last May for “actions that violated the rules of diplomatic custom.” An official announcement at the time did not elaborate, but press reports said Mohtadi was connected to Muslim fundamentalists who made an abortive attempt in May on the life of former Interior Minister Hassan abu Basha.