Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

British embassy local staff to be tried in Iran

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-03 23:53

TEHRAN: A top Iranian cleric said Friday that some local staff of the British embassy in Iran will be put on trial for alleged instigating post-election unrest in the country.

Head of the Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati delivers a sermon during Tehran's Friday prayers, July 3, 2009. [Agencies]

"In these developments, their embassy had a presence (in the unrest) and some people were arrested," Guardian Council Secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said at Friday prayers in Tehran.

Related readings:  Iran at 'front and center' of Obama trip  President: Iran vote an anti-imperialist victory  Iran says 5 British embassy staff freed  Iran: No downgrade of diplomatic ties with Britain  Iran detains local British embassy staff

"Inevitably, they will be put on trial as they have made confessions," Jannati said.

He did not give the exact figure of those to be tried. Iranian media reported earlier that a total of nine local staff were initially detained, but most of them had been released and only one remained in custody.

However, British officials said that two embassy employees in Iran remained in detention.

On Friday, European Union countries summoned Iranian ambassadors to protest against the detention.

Relations between Britain and Iran have been strained after Tehran accused Western countries, Britain in particular, of stoking the unrest that swept throughout the country after June 12 election.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared a decisive winner of the polling.