Iran frees another UK embassy staffer

6 Jul 2009, 11:14 pm   -   Source: AAP
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British-Greek journalist Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden did freelance work for the Washington Times. (File Washington Times/AAP)

British-Greek journalist Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden did freelance work for the Washington Times. (File Washington Times/AAP)

Britain has confirmed that Iran has released an eighth staff member of the British embassy in Tehran, leaving one still in detention.

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Iran has released an eighth member of the local British embassy staff in Tehran, London said on Monday, amid signs that the one worker still detained could face trial over post-election violence.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meanwhile, warned Iran that the European Union was ready to act in response to the embassy staff detentions and expulsion of diplomats in the wake of the disputed election.

"If this action continues and we are forced to act, we will act together with our European partners," Brown said at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy said France was "in total solidarity" with Britain over the arrests, as the two leaders held a summit in France ahead of the G8 in Italy later this week.

Earlier in the day, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Western leaders of a "firm fist" in response to their "meddling" in Iran's domestic affairs.

The Foreign Office in London said it was working to secure the release of the last remaining embassy employee arrested in Tehran along with eight others late last month, a move that strained already tense ties between Britain and Iran.

Seven were later released.

"We are able to confirm that one of our staff remains in detention," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, adding that the embassy worker was released last night.

"It remains our top priority to get all of our embassy staff released as soon as possible," the spokeswoman added.

Iran has repeatedly accused the West, and Britain in particular, of stoking unrest and seeking to destabilise the country in the wake of the hotly disputed June 12 election that returned hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Last month, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran may downgrade ties with Britain, after the two governments expelled each other's diplomats.

A powerful Iranian cleric said on Friday that some of the arrested embassy staff would be put on trial over the unrest, without specifying how many. The move threatens to plunge ties between Iran and Britain to a new low.

Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran's Guardians Council, also said the country's "enemies" had been plotting a "velvet revolution" in the Islamic republic.

Khamenei issued his warning in a televised speech in Tehran on Monday.

"The leaders of arrogant countries, the nosy meddlers in the affairs of the Islamic republic, must know that no matter if the Iranian people have their own differences, when you enemies get involved, the people... will become a firm fist against you," he said.

"The Iranian nation warns the leaders of those countries trying to take advantage of the situation, beware! The Iranian nation will react."

Britain has repeatedly denied any involvement in the unrest, which has plunged Iran into the most serious crisis since the 1979 revolution.

Britain appears to have replaced the United States, often dubbed "the Great Satan" by Iranian leaders, as Tehran's top foe in the wake of the election.

Iran's supreme leader has described Britain, which has long had turbulent relations with Iran, as the "most evil" of its enemies.

The roots of mutual distrust date back to the 1800s when Iran, then Persia, was trapped in the colonial rivalry between Russia and Britain.

In 1953, nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh was overthrown in a CIA-organised coup with support from British operatives after he nationalised the Anglo-Iranian oil company, the forerunner to British Petroleum.

Diplomatic relations were severed when the British mission in Tehran was closed in 1980 after British special forces stormed the Iranian embassy in London to end a hostage siege.

In 2007, Iran seized 15 British navy personnel on patrol in waters between Iraq and Iran and held them for 12 days.

Britain is also among the strongest opponents of Iran's nuclear drive, which London and Washington say is aimed at developing atomic weapons, a claim rejected by Tehran.

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