EU nations summon Iranian envoys

[struggle4progress]

Source: Jerusalem Post

The European Union decided Friday to summon Iranian ambassadors across the 27-nation bloc in a joint protest against the detentions of staff at the British Embassy in Teheran.

The EU called Iran's decision to put detained British Embassy staff on trial "not acceptable."

Britain had proposed recalling all EU ambassadors from Teheran as a powerful signal of unity, but the 27-nation bloc settled for a gradual escalation of pressure, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.

In a statement, Bildt said the EU's "escalatory approach to Iran was working" and noted that seven of nine embassy employees had been released ...





Read more: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=124644371274...

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Iran to Try U.K. Embassy Staff Accused of Incitement (Update1)
By Ali Sheikholeslami

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Some Iranian employees of the U.K. Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial over allegations they helped instigate post-election unrest, a senior cleric told worshippers in the capital during Friday prayers.

“The people from the British Embassy who were behind the recent riots were arrested and they will definitely be tried,” said the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, according to the state-run Iranian Students News Agency. The council supervises the country’s elections.

“We are confident that our staff have not engaged in any improper or illegal behavior,” U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said today. “We are urgently seeking clarification,” Miliband added, saying he intended to speak to his Iranian counterpart. The European Union said it will summon Iranian ambassadors to protest the treatment of the British staff.

Iran insists the staff members were part of an embassy effort to foment demonstrations over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed June 12 re-election. As many as nine employees were detained, and several later released. Miliband said two staff members remain in detention. The U.K. Foreign Office said the arrests may have happened before June 27 ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aOh...

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. "left speechless by the brutality"

Half of Iran's population are under the age of 25. They protest for their freedom, and
we should not let the US media drop it.

From Der Spiegel

06/29/2009 END OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION?
The Power of Iran's Iron Fist
By Dieter Bednarz

Tehran is in a state of emergency as the government continues its increasingly brutal crackdown against protesters. Hardliners and opposition politicians are searching for a compromise behind the scenes, but Iran's supreme leader is refusing to make any concessions.

The pressure must be great indeed when someone like Abbas Abdi no longer wants to talk. Whether as a revolutionary or a reformer, Abdi, 51, has never lacked courage and a willingness to take risks. During the 1979 occupation of the US Embassy in Tehran, he was one of the first to scale the embassy walls. With his calls to "fight against global arrogance," he became the most famous of the hostage-takers that held more than 50 US citizens captive for 444 days.

...But Abdi was also on the front lines when it came to criticizing the Iranian theocracy. A few years after the revolution, he sharply attacked the mullahs, accusing them of corruption and nepotism. He knows the inside of Tehran's notorious Evin prison well as a result. And yet Abdi continues to fight for liberalization and democracy.

But even Abdi has been left speechless by the brutality with which the regime is currently proceeding against critics of the supposed election victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The veteran politician rejects calls to his mobile phone if he sees a foreign number on the screen. He also politely but firmly declines to take calls on his landline, even when he knows the caller. Speaking in hushed tones, as if this could prevent the Iranian secret police from hearing his words, he reminds the caller of the consequences for Iranians of having contact with foreigners, especially journalists.

.... more here

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,633144...

[struggle4progress]

2. Iran mulls trials as it steps up crackdown

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran is considering pressing charges against a British embassy staffer, a Newsweek journalist and several reformist leaders, lawyers said on Saturday, as the regime intensifies its crackdown on protests over last month's presidential election.

The accused include key figures from reformist 1997-2005 presidency of Mohammad Khatami who oversaw a thaw in relations with the West. They are all held suspected of "acting against national security," the lawyers said.

Any prosecutions would spark a new downturn in Tehran's relations with the West. On Friday, European Union governments already called in Iranian envoys across the 27-nation bloc in protest at the detention of British embassy staff.

Lawyer Abolsamad Khorramshahi said he was seeking permission to see detained embassy political analyst Hossein Rassam after being told by his family of the accusations against him ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i5Bk...