Sayyed Kassem al-Husseini was arrested in al-Mohandssen district of Cairo Saturday, Xinhua reported citing the official Al-Akhbar newspaper.
The report said Husseini was gathering and sending to Tehran economic, political and military intelligence reports on Egypt.
He was part of a spy network that was trying to recruit agents in Arab countries, officials said.
Egypt and Iran have no diplomatic relation since 1979, when Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel and offered asylum to Iran's deposed last shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Published 29 May 2011, 11:45 IST