Iran detains British embassy staff

28/06/2009| IslamWeb

Iranian authorities have detained eight employees of the British embassy in Tehran, accusing them of involvement in post-election unrest in Iran, the semi-official Fars News Agency has reported.

"Eight local employees at the British embassy who had a considerable role in recent unrest were taken into custody," Fars said on Sunday, without giving a source.

"This group played an active role in provoking recent unrest."

Iran has accused Western powers - Britain and the US in particular - of inciting street protests and violence that rocked the country after its disputed June 12 presidential election.

Britain has rejected the accusations.

Strained ties

Two reformist candidates - Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi - disputed the result that gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, a landslide re-election victory.

The outcome sparked anti-government protests that have left at least 13 people dead, though Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, endorsed the result.

Khamenei in a televised address last week insisted the protests must stop and vowed not to give in to the protesters.

But both Mousavi and Karroubi still insist the election was marred by fraud calling the new government "illegitimate".

They have also rejected a proposal for a recount of some ballots by the country's highest legislative body, the Guardian council.

The arrests of the embassy staff are likely to put further strain on relations between London and Tehran.

Last Tuesday, Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, said the UK was expelling two Iranian diplomats after Iran forced two British diplomats to leave.

Iran's foreign minister has said Tehran is considering downgrading ties with Britain, and the intelligence minister has said some people with British passports were involved in post-election violence in Iran.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iranian riot policemen stand guard outside the British embassy in Tehran on June 23.

Al-Jazeera