Iran Arrests British Embassy Staff Members

Miliband Slams "Harassment And Intimidation" Of 8 Employees Of U.K. Office In Tehran

(CBS/AP)  Iranian media reported Sunday that authorities had detained eight employees of the British Embassy in Tehran for an alleged role in post-election protests, signaling a hardening of Iran's stance toward the West.

British foreign secretary David Miliband said he's deeply concerned about the fate of eight Iranian employees of Britain's Tehran office, reports CBS News correspondent Larry Miller.

The eight were arrested and accused of having played a "significant role" in the post-election protests and in provoking those demonstrations, the semi-official Fars news agency said in a report also cited by Iran's English-language, state-run Press TV. The reports gave no further details.

Miliband has demanded their release, describing their detentions as "harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable."

Miliband, who is on the Greek island of Corfu for a foreign ministers' meeting, said Britain has protested to the Iranian authorities about the arrests, which he said occurred Saturday.

Iran has accused the West of stoking unrest following a bitterly disputed June 12 presidential election, singling out Britain and the U.S. for alleged meddling. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has alleged massive fraud, and claims he is the rightful winner.

Iran's government has tried to discredit opposition supporters by alleging they have been directed by the West. Britain, as a former colonial power in the region, has been a prominent target. The British have also drawn fire because of the BBC's prominent role as trusted broadcaster in Farsi inside Iran.

Last week, Iran expelled two British diplomats, and Britain responded in kind. Iran has also said it's considering downgrading diplomatic ties with Britain.

On Friday, a senior Iranian cleric, Ahmed Khatami, lashed out at Britain in a nationally 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 U.S.A.,'" he said.

The U.S. and Europe have become increasingly vocal about their condemnation of Iran's harsh crackdown. Iran's leaders have pushed back with angry rhetoric, and the confrontation appears to be dashing hopes for a new dialogue, as initially envisioned by President Barack Obama when he took office.

Iran's rulers have unleashed club-wielding militiamen to crush street protests and arrested hundreds of journalists, students and activists. A special court is to try protesters, and Khatami demanded harsh sentences, including the death penalty, for those found guilty.

Despite the clampdown, Mousavi signaled he is not dropping his political challenge. In a new statement, he insisted on a repeat of the election and rejected a partial recount being proposed by the government. Still, Mousavi's challenge seemed largely aimed at maintaining some role as an opposition figure.

The latest statement by Mousavi, who is increasingly isolated in the past week, appeared Sunday on Ghalamnews, a Web site run by supporters. Mousavi-related Web sites have frequently been blocked by the government, and one was shut down by hackers last week.

Iran's top electoral body, the 12-member Guardian Council, has proposed recounting 10 percent of the votes. On Friday, the council offered to bring in six more political figures to oversee a partial recount, presumably to give the effort greater legitimacy in the eyes of the challengers.

However, Mousavi reiterated his demand for nullification as "the most suitable solution to restore public confidence." He called for independent arbiters to settle the dispute.

Another defeated candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, also expressed doubt that a fair review is possible.

"How is it possible to answer controversies through counting some ballots?" he wrote in a letter to the Guardian Council, published Sunday in his newspaper, Etemad-e-Melli.

A third candidate, Mohsen Rezaei, said he would only send a representative to the council, for observation of a re-count, if the other two candidates did the same.

[ajjaxtheleast]

It cant be said that we exactly MESSED with
Lebanon's election...

We had Israel INVADE Lebanon killing 900 citizens and
Hezbollah people to try eliminating one of the candidates
for the presidency,,,which coincidentally happened to
be a Hezbollah-supported candidate.,,,,No one seemed
shocked and if they were shocked the shock
didn't last very long.

Fact is it's now even forgotten,,,

Palistine's meddling is now forgotton,,

This is our FACTUAL track record,,,dead people
make an inconvenient track record,,

So with that resume, how preposterous is Ahmadinejad's
claim that we "interfered" in Iran's election?

Given the "honest" media of ALL countries no single
countries's citizens can know enough about any claim
to be so objective and certain that they can totally
disregard a "news" report without at
least questioning it.

So far questiong whether Iran's claim of meddling has
merit or not has yet to be seen anywhere.

[california64]

I don't miss Bush and he was wrong about so many things but look at North Korea and Iran now. Axis of evil, indeed...

[bajajohn1]

If these Necon bloggers are on sombebody's payroll...they should be immediately fired. Apparently, they are clueless when it comes to foreign policy. When Ameican becomes entangled in foreign military aciton under a Democratic President...they start the chant..We are not the world's police, i.e. Kosovo; When a Democratic President does not become entangled militarily...they scream childish insults against the President. Don't you Neocons believe this is a British problem?

[rhs648]

And this is the country with which President Obama wants to have a diologue. It is naive to believe that Iran wants a diologue with us. Iranian leaders consider President Obama's offer of diologue a weakness of the United States. It won't be long before Iran goes to war with the west. They seem to suffer the same syndrome as the Nazis in Germany and Iraq under Hussein. That is, appeasement won't work and threats and words of warning won't work. The Iranian leaders know that we will back down repeatedly. This is something President Bush understood even if it angered a lot of American apologists.

[vietnamwar]

here we go again ?

[mcintoshlou]

urso stupid

[mcintoshlou]

IT WAS JUST a week ago that Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) was in the spotlight for his admission of marital infidelity. Now comes fellow Republican and would-be presidential hopeful Mark Sanford's clumsy admission of adultery, and Mr. Ensign is, so political pundits judge, yesterday's news. That's too bad, because there is still a lot about Mr. Ensign's affair that the public has a right to know.

Interest in Mr. Ensign -- and we make no secret that ours is influenced in part by his despicable role in undermining D.C. voting rights -- is by no means absolution of Mr. Sanford. The latter abrogated his responsibilities as South Carolina governor and misled his staff and the public. Mr. Sanford's infidelity should be a private matter between him and his wife, but his embarrassing confessional raised inevitable calls for his resignation. His announcement yesterday that he would reimburse the state for portions of a 2008 trade mission that included meeting with his Argentine mistress raises more questions about his conduct.

HOW CAN WE EVER HOPE TO DEAL WITH IRAN WHEN WE HAVE IMMORAL REPUBLI'CON'

OBSTRUCTIONISTS SERVING IN THE US GOVERNMENT,

VOTE OUT THE FASCISTS, THE REPUBLI'CON's

[hungry1968-15]

by UrSoWrong June 28, 2009 9:01 AM PDT
I already described the steps the President should take. Invasion isn't one of them. This is a war fought on many fronts.






by gravyboat3000 June 28, 2009 9:13 AM PDT
Sorry, I must have missed that post/s.

So, tell us again, what the President should have done/do, in regard to Iran.






No response, UrSoWrong?

[hungry1968-15]

by UrSoWrong June 28, 2009 8:52 AM PDT
Self-defense on behalf of American lives and property is what the government is supposed to do. Sometimes that requires meeting force with force. Sometimes that job is undermined by people whose definition of life and property is in conflict with social norms.







This is even loonier yet: explain to us all how Iran is posing a threat to our national defense or security.

And while you're at it, please tell us what "social norms" Iran has in common with the US.

[hungry1968-15]

So you post a bizarre, nonsensical post, I call you on it, and ask you to be more specific in your lunacy, and your response is that I AM an amateur?

If you had ANY sense at all, you would have explained your point.

Since you can't, we must assume that you're a juvenile that does not have a point, or can't articulate it if you do.

Good luck going through life like that, junior.

[Illuminated1]

Iran just loves kidnapping internationally protected diplomats and staff...

I say it's become time now that the rulers of the Iranian people pay a heavy price for their actions both against the U.S., now Britain as well.

We should use North Korea as our target practice range for our nuclear weapons and invite the Iranian diplomats for a 1st row seat, along with the Chinese empire's ambassador to report we are pissed off and ain't gonna take your **** anymore.

The Chinese are clearly interfering with world affairs, but haven't been scrutinized to at least my satisfaction.

The axis of evil exists.....it's time we had the balls to confront them on a forward deployed standing.

[gravyboat3000]

So, you're sayin we should invade Iran?

:(

[gravyboat3000]

Are Iranian citizens, employed by an embassy considered,"internationally protected staff"?