British Embassy Staff to go on Trial in Iran

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a leading member of the Guardian Council, announced during a sermon that arrested members of the British Embassy staff had confessed to crimes of treason against Iran and that they would be put on trial. It is unclear at this point what charges will be filed against the embassy staffers or exactly how many of them will be tried. Jannati also alluded to the British government's role in sponsoring the unrest that followed Iran's recent disputed presidential elections.

Because of Iran's internal ability to stifle both domestic and international press and information dissemination, they are able to successfully control the voice of their people. Iran has now declared - through it's spiritual leadership - that the protests and claims of election fraud were being driven largely by forces outside of Iran. Namely, the western nations with whom Iran has long had strained relations.

By arresting and now preparing to try members of the British Embassy staff, Iran has significantly raised the stakes in its game of roulette with the west and the European Union, in particular. The EU and the United States have been somewhat measured in their comments on the situation, with most EU nations maintaining their diplomatic presence in Iran, even as the British Embassy staffers have been arrested.

Meanwhile, defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has continued to speak out against the election and its results, claiming that the current Iranian elected government is illegitimate. Of course, this all seems a bit misguided, in that the elected government in Iran is really just a political face for the clerics and holy men who actually hold all the power in Iran.