I'd like to see Obama immediately support the Brits on this issue... but he will take a week to release a teptid statement of "concern". He has to take a couple of Polls first instead of speaking out on principal. Obama is going to end up making Carter look like a 'decisive leader'. He is a fool if he thinks he will get anything out of the Iranians through "talks"
Iranian authorities have detained several local employees of the British Embassy in Iran, a move that Britain's foreign secretary Sunday called "harassment and intimidation" and reflected a hardening of the regime's stance toward the West.
Iranian media said eight local embassy staff were detained for an alleged role in postelection protests, but gave no further details. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "about nine" employees were detained Saturday and that some had been released.
The detentions signaled a further toughening of Iran's dealings with the West, which has become increasingly vocal in its condemnation of a crackdown on opposition supporters.
Iran has accused the West of stoking unrest, singling out Britain and the U.S. for alleged meddling. Last week, Iran expelled two British diplomats, and Britain responded in kind. Iran has also said it's considering downgrading diplomatic ties with Britain.
On Sunday, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that the embassy staffers were detained for what was described as a "significant role" in postelection unrest.
The British Foreign Office says the Tehran embassy has a staff of more than 100, including at least 70 locally hired Iranians.
Miliband, who is on the Greek island of Corfu for a foreign ministers' meeting, said Britain has lodged a protest with the Iranian authorities over the detentions. He described the step as "harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable."
"The idea that the British Embassy is somehow behind the demonstrations and protests that have been taking place in Tehran. ... is wholly without foundation," he said. The foreign minister said it would be an important point of discussion with his EU colleagues.
In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said any further harassment of British Embassy employees would be met with "a strong and united EU response."
Iran's government has tried to discredit opposition supporters by alleging they have been directed by the West.
On Friday, a senior Iranian cleric, Ahmed Khatami, lashed out at Britain in a nationally televised sermon. "In this unrest, Britons have behaved very mischievously and it is fair to add the slogan of 'down with England' to the slogan of 'down with USA,'" he said.
The British have also drawn fire because of the BBC's prominent role as a trusted broadcaster in Farsi inside Iran.
This is a reversal from the way the state and publicly funded BBC was perceived in the leadup to the Iranian Islamic Revolution. At the time, the BBC was widely listened to because it extensively covered anti-Shah demonstrations and activities of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was in exile in France.
Iran's leaders have countered Western condemnation with increasingly angry rhetoric. The confrontation appears to be dashing hopes for a new dialogue, as initially envisioned by President Barack Obama when he took office.
Obama wants to engage Iranian leaders in talks over the country's suspect nuclear program which the U.S. and other western countries worry is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran defends its nuclear program as civilian in nature. On Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 27-nation bloc would "like very much" to restart nuclear talks with Tehran despite the rising tensions.
Iran's rulers have unleashed club-wielding militiamen to crush street protests and arrested hundreds of journalists, students and activists.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090628/D993MAFO0.html
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"The Good Guys" Finally Win one in Central America.
