The Iranian government arrested eight local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran, accusing them of “playing a considerable role in the recent unrest.” The announcement was made by the state news agency FARS, which failed to say when the arrests were made. State radio confirmed the arrests and said that some detainees had been released.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband placed the number at nine and told reporters that some had been released. He dismissed the idea that the British were somehow behind the demonstrations as “wholly without foundation.” The arrests are the latest in the ongoing row between the two governments. Iran and the U.K. have each expelled two of the others’ diplomats since the election. Former president Rafsanjani finally broke his post-election silence by complementing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for extending the time in which the Guardian Council will look into complaints about the election. He also said the post-election unrest was the result of a “conspiracy of suspicious elements aimed at dividing people and the Islamic system.”