Iran Releases Three More British Embassy Employees
Tehran still detains one embassy employee for 'significant role' in post-election violence
Iran has released three employees of the British embassy in Tehran who were detained in the wake of street protests against official presidential election results, state-run Iranian television reported today.
Press TV said one embassy employee was still being held for playing "a significant role" in post-election violence, out of nine Iranian staff members originally arrested. Five were released last week. British officials said this afternoon they were checking the latest report.
The reported releases come just ahead of a meeting of senior European diplomats in Stockholm tomorrow. The political directors of EU member foreign ministries were due to discuss coordinated measures against Iran for what David Miliband has called "harassment and intimidation" of local embassy staff.
One of the options on the agenda at Stockholm was a co-ordinated and temporary withdrawal of ambassadors. There were divisions among European states over that course of action, as some countries with small embassies in Tehran complained that if they withdrew their ambassadors they would have almost no one left to safeguard the interests of their own citizens in Iran. Others argued that such diplomatic pressure could backfire by reinforcing the hardliners' portrayal of the elections as a struggle between Iran and foreign powers, rather than an internal conflict over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.
Despite the disagreements within the EU, diplomats said the mere possibility of concerted action could have triggered Tehran's decision to release more embassy staff today.
Over a two-day meeting in Stockholm, the European diplomats will be discussing how to deal with Iranian government in the wake of the disputed elections. They will have to decide whether to attend Ahmadinejad's inauguration, which is due to take place between 26 July and 19 August.
In the longer term, the six nations leading nuclear negotiations with Tehran ‑ the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ‑ will try to agree a common approach if Iran continues to ignore the "freeze for freeze" deal they offered a year ago, in which no more sanctions would be imposed if Iran did not expand its uranium enrichment programme.
Barack Obama has said his administration would review its options if there was no positive response by the end of this year. Before that, foreign ministers from the six-nation group are to meet to discuss options at the UN general assembly meeting in September.
Press TV said one embassy employee was still being held for playing "a significant role" in post-election violence, out of nine Iranian staff members originally arrested. Five were released last week. British officials said this afternoon they were checking the latest report.
The reported releases come just ahead of a meeting of senior European diplomats in Stockholm tomorrow. The political directors of EU member foreign ministries were due to discuss coordinated measures against Iran for what David Miliband has called "harassment and intimidation" of local embassy staff.
One of the options on the agenda at Stockholm was a co-ordinated and temporary withdrawal of ambassadors. There were divisions among European states over that course of action, as some countries with small embassies in Tehran complained that if they withdrew their ambassadors they would have almost no one left to safeguard the interests of their own citizens in Iran. Others argued that such diplomatic pressure could backfire by reinforcing the hardliners' portrayal of the elections as a struggle between Iran and foreign powers, rather than an internal conflict over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.
Despite the disagreements within the EU, diplomats said the mere possibility of concerted action could have triggered Tehran's decision to release more embassy staff today.
Over a two-day meeting in Stockholm, the European diplomats will be discussing how to deal with Iranian government in the wake of the disputed elections. They will have to decide whether to attend Ahmadinejad's inauguration, which is due to take place between 26 July and 19 August.
In the longer term, the six nations leading nuclear negotiations with Tehran ‑ the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ‑ will try to agree a common approach if Iran continues to ignore the "freeze for freeze" deal they offered a year ago, in which no more sanctions would be imposed if Iran did not expand its uranium enrichment programme.
Barack Obama has said his administration would review its options if there was no positive response by the end of this year. Before that, foreign ministers from the six-nation group are to meet to discuss options at the UN general assembly meeting in September.
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