Friday, July 3, 2009

Iran to Put British Embassy Staff on Trial

Two Iranian employees of the British Embassy in Tehran will face trial for inciting protests following the recent election. Nine Embassy staffers were detained earlier this week but several have since been released. Via CNN:
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A top Iranian cleric said Friday some of the arrested employees from the British Embassy in Tehran would be put on trial, Iranian Students News Agency reported.

The employees have been accused of helping to incite some of the post-election protests that swept through the country.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a statement "urgently seeking clarification from the appropriate Iranian authorities."

He said: "We are confident that our staff have not engaged in any improper or illegal behavior.

"We remain deeply concerned about the two members of our staff who remain in detention in Iran."

Iranian officials had said previously that all but one of the nine embassy staffers taken into custody on June 27 were released.

The European Union said Friday that all of its member governments will call in the Iranian ambassadors in their countries to tell them that the EU opposes the continued detention of the two British staffers.

Please continue to pray for the protection of these Embassy staffers and all those others who long for freedom but are being swept up in brutal police raids and violence.

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