UK warns Iran over trial ‘provocation’

British Foreign Minister David Miliband warns that the trial of an employee of the British Embassy in Tehran over the post-vote unrest is deemed as a “provocation.”

“I am deeply concerned by the unjustified charges today laid against Hossein Rassam in Tehran,” Miliband said Saturday. “The charges are unjustified and have brought discredit to Iran.”

He said London had received ‘support’ from France, which has a national member facing similar charges in Iran, and from Sweden, which holds the European Union presidency, saying, “We have reaffirmed our solidarity in the face of this latest Iranian provocation.”

The court trial of some 100 people detained during protests that came in the wake of the disputed June 12 presidential election resumed in Tehran on Saturday.

Hossein Rassam, who worked as a senior political analyst for the British Embassy in Tehran, told the court on Saturday that he had been gathering information on post-election demonstrations for the British government at the request of his superiors.

The trial has sparked Britain’s anger.

“This is completely unacceptable and directly contradicts assurances we had been given repeatedly by senior Iranian officials,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman told reporters over the trail. “We deplore these trials and the so-called confessions of prisoners who have been denied their basic human rights.”

Iran has accused foreign countries, particularly Britain, of orchestrating the opposition demonstrations, in which supporters of major political rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the government of vote rigging.

On Saturday, the European Union’s Swedish presidency issued a statement, calling for an immediate release of employees of the British and French embassies.

“The presidency expresses its concern over the ongoing trial in Tehran in the aftermath of the presidential election, including against two EU member states’ embassy employees and one EU citizen,” the statement by the EU’s Swedish presidency said.

“The presidency reiterates that action against one EU country, citizen or embassy staff is considered an action against the entire EU,” read the statement. “The EU will closely follow the trial and demands that the persons be released promptly.”

The female French lecturer, Clotilde Reiss, is on trial over charges of ‘acting against Iran’s national security’.

The French government has condemned the trial and has demanded the immediate release of Reiss and Nazak Afshar, an Iranian employee at the French Embassy in Tehran who faces charges of espionage.