Taking Crazy to New Heights, Iran Detains British Embassy Staff

That Iranian "elected" leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is corrupt, likely insane and violent is a fairly well-established fact around the world now. But, perhaps trying to outdo even his own poor international relations skills, the "president" of Iran and the powers that be in that country have detained British Embassy employees, accusing them of fomenting rebellion in their country. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband noted that "about nine" embassy employees had been detained on Saturday and that four have already been released. The European Union roundly condemned the arrests.

According to a statement from the EU, "harassment or intimidation of foreign or Iranian staff working in the embassies will be met with a strong and collective EU response." Iran has already accused many Western countries of trying to sow the seeds of unrest in Iran after a highly-disputed election resulted in mass protests and subsequent violent repression of such demonstrations. Ahmadinejad himself demanded an apology from U.S. President Barack Obama after the latter made comments denouncing the violent methods of suppressing dissent. Obama scoffed at the notion of an apology, instead reiterating his comments that Ahmadinejad should take care of the mess in his own country rather than worrying about Western nations’ opinion of the sullied reputation of Iran and its leaders.

On Sunday, in the wake of the detentions, protests and violence again sprung up in Tehran, despite the brutal efforts of government lackeys in discouraging such demonstrations. Witnesses noted that police fought with as many as 3,000 protestors yesterday and that security forces fired tear gas into the crowd. In response, a chant of "Where is my vote?" rose from the crowed. Allegations that police beat an elderly woman and broke the arms and legs of several protestors have not been confirmed, and all journalists for international news organizations have been barred from reporting from the streets in Iran by Iranian authorities.