Five of nine staff detained for alleged involvement in protests released

Five of the nine British embassy staff detained in Iran have reportedly been released.

Iranian media said on Sunday that the staff were being held for their alleged involvement in protests over the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A spokesman from the Iranian foreign ministry, Hassan Ghashghavi, confirmed that five of the detainees, all Iranian nationals, had been freed.

“Out of nine people, five of them have been released and the rest are being interrogated,” he told a news conference.

He added that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had held talks with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday evening.

Miliband has dismissed Iran’s allegations as “wholly without foundation”. “We have protested in strong terms, directly to the Iranian authorities, about the arrests,” he said. “The idea that the British embassy is somehow behind the demonstrations and protests that have been taking place in Tehran … is wholly without foundation.”

Responding to Miliband, Ghashghavi said: “Mottaki said that if they really prove this in practice... this can be considered as a positive step”.

The European Union yesterday warned Iran that “harassment or intimidation” of embassy staff would be met with a “strong and collective” response.

In other developments, al Alam state television reported that a partial recount of the 12 June election had begun.

The country’s powerful Guardian Council has agreed to recount a random 10 per cent of the votes from the presidential election.

The Iranian opposition, including defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, have consistently called for the election to instead be annulled and rerun.

The UK government has consistently been accused by Iran of covertly aiding protesters demonstrating over allegations of vote-rigging. Last Friday a senior cleric, Ahmed Khatami, attacked Britain in a televised sermon.

"In this unrest, Britons have behaved very mischievously and it is fair to add the slogan of 'down with England' to the slogan of 'down with USA,'" he said.

Prior to this, the Ayathollah Khamenei singled Britain out as “the most treacherous” of the foreign powers apparently interfering in Iran.

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website