UK staff arrested in Iran
Iran has detained eight local staff at the British embassy in Tehran on accusations of having a role in post-election riots, local reports said.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband demanded their release, saying the arrests were “quite unacceptable”.
Relations between the countries are strained after Tehran accused the UK of stoking unrest, which London denies.
Some 17 people are thought to have died in street protests after the disputed 12 June presidential poll.
Tehran has expelled two British diplomats in the past week, and the UK has responded with a similar measure.
The arrests were first reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.
“Eight local employees at the British embassy who had a considerable role in recent unrest were taken into custody,” Fars said, without giving a source.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed “deep concern” over the arrest of local staff on Saturday.
“This is harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable,” he told reporters at an international conference in Corfu. “We want to see (them) released unharmed.”
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Mac Says:
And the UN sits on it’s collective hands and says nothing…
Posted on June 28th, 2009 at 9:50 pm