IslamOnline.net & News Agencies
Iran accuses the British embassy staffer of taking part in the unrest following last month’s disputed Iranian presidential elections.
Iran accuses the British embassy staffer of taking part in the unrest following last month’s disputed Iranian presidential elections.
TEHRAN – In a new downturn in Iranian-British relations, Iran tried a British embassy staff on Saturday, August 8, on espionage charges, sparking London’s outrage.
"Based on the charges read out by the Tehran prosecution, you are accused of spying for foreigners," the judge Abul Qasim Salavati told embassy political analyst Hossein Rassam, IRNA news agency reported.
Rassam is accused of taking part in political unrest following last month’s disputed Iranian presidential elections.
Prosecutors said Rassam and another Iranian employee of the embassy, who was also briefly detained, had reported to the British government on the protests.
"You along with Arash Momenian were given the duty of meeting representatives of political groups, ethnic and religious minorities, and student groups and to relay the news of Iran's riots to London," the prosecutor told the court.
Rassam was first arrested on June 27 and then released on bail on July 19 on a surety of one billion rials (100,000 dollars).
According to IRNA, the espionage charges were filed based on Rassam’s confessions.
"Based on the order of British embassy, the local staff were asked to be present in the riots along with Tom Burn and Paul Blemey," IRNA quoted Rassam as saying.
He told the court that a similar task was assigned to a number of British diplomats who were to monitor the post-election protests.
"Burn was at the protests in Motahari and Sanaie streets in Tehran on June 14 and Patrick Davis was also present at the march from Enghelab Street to Sharif Technical University," he said.
"The ambassador along with charge d'affaires took part in witnessing a rally of Mousavi supporters."
In the dock with Rassam on Saturday was French embassy Iranian employee Nazak Afshar, who was detained on Thursday, and French lecturer Clotilde Reiss, 24, who has been in custody since July 1.
UK Outrage
The British government strongly denounced the trial, calling it an "outrage" and a breach of past assurances from senior Iranian officials.
"We deplore these trials and the so-called confessions of prisoners who have been denied their basic human rights," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).
"This is completely unacceptable and directly contradicts assurances we had been given repeatedly by senior Iranian officials."
The spokesman warned of the UK reaction to such accusation.
"Our ambassador in Tehran has demanded early clarification of the position from the Iranian authorities," she said.
"We will then decide on how to respond to this latest outrage."
Saturday’s trial was a scene in a series of the strained UK-Iranian relationship, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Teheran has accused Western governments, particularly Britain and the United States, of meddling in its domestic affairs.
Adding to the fuel between the two countries, Iran accuses Britain of cooperating with the Sunni fighters in the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich province of Khuzistan.
Last month’s disputed elections also witnessed rising enmity between the two countries following a speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who called Britain "the most treacherous" of Iran's enemies.
Following the speech, the UK expelled two Iranian diplomats after Iran forced two British diplomats to leave on accusations of supporting post-election riots.
Furthermore, Iranian authorities detained eight local British embassy staff for involvement in the unrest, an action rejected by angry UK government.
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