3 EURPOEAN STATES RECALL ENVOYS FROM IRAN
After the UK withdrew its diplomatic mission from Iran, Germany, France and the Netherlands have also recalled their ambassadors to Tehran for consultation.
TEHRAN, Iran – On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London is withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Tehran after Iranian students demonstrated outside the British Embassy. Hague went on to say that the Iranian Embassy in London would also be immediately closed and Tehran must remove its diplomatic mission within 48 hours.
Following Hague's statement, France, Germany and the Netherlands also announced that they are recalling their ambassador to Iran for consultation.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest rally outside of two UK diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy. - Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Wednesday that Tehran considers any attack against diplomatic missions and
buildings and the violation of international law as unacceptable. - He added that the incident in Tehran was the result of the anger of demonstrators at British policies and was unexpected.
The Iranian official said that the vigilance of authorities had prevented any of the diplomats from being injured and Iran's Judiciary will punish perpetrators accordingly. He described Britain's demand that Iranian diplomats leave London as hasty and said Tehran will take necessary measures in return.
Mehmanparast (right photo) stressed that London is responsible for protecting Iran's diplomatic mission and buildings.
KHATAMI CONDEMNS IRAN'S "SHOW TRIAL " OF REFORMISTS
Iranian authorities have tightened pressure on their opponents by staging what former president Mohammad Khatami condemned on Sunday as a "show trial" of 100 reformists accused of trying to instigate a "velvet revolution".
Source: The Star Online
- The trial was the latest shot in an official campaign to snuff out defiance by those who say Iran's June 12 election was rigged to ensure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, due to be sworn in by parliament on Wednesday.
- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has endorsed the election result and demanded an end to protests, will formally approve the hardline incumbent for a second term on Monday.
- Khatami, several of whose close associates were in the dock on Saturday, said the trial violated Iran's constitution.
- "Such show trials will directly harm the system and further damage public trust," he said on his website (www.khatami.ir). Another court session is scheduled for Thursday.
- Defeated election candidate Mirhossein Mousavi dismissed what he said were confessions made under duress.
- "The torturers and interrogators have gone to such lengths that their victims are among those who gave great services to Iran in the past," he said on his website Ghalamnews.
- "Soon we will see the trials of those who committed these crimes, the torturers and interrogators."
DESPITE OF ALL ODD, IRAN'S PROTESTS WILL CONTINUE
Iran’s opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said today the pro-reform protests which erupted after the country’s disputed June presidential vote will continue, his website reported.
Source:: Reuters, TMI
- “The pro-reform path will continue,” Mousavi said in a statement. “The establishment should respect the constitution and let us to gather to commemorate our killed loved ones on Thursday.”
- Moderate defeated candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi yesterday called on the authorities to permit a gathering on Thursday at Tehran’s “Grand Mosala,” a prayer location where tens of thousands can gather, to commemorate unrest victims.
- The June 12 vote plunged the country into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed deepening divisions in its ruling elite.
- Iranian media have reported several cases of protesters’ deaths following the vote, including those of Sohrab Aarabi and Mohsen Ruholamini.
- Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro- reform politicians, journalists, activists and lawyers, have been detained in Iran since the election, which moderates say was rigged in favour of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
- Mousavi, prime-minister in 1980s, said detentions could not halt the pro-reform movement.
8 LOCAL BRITISH EMBASSY STAFF ARRESTED BY IRAN
Iran has arrested eight local British embassy staff, media reports said Sunday, a move that will further exacerbate strained ties with the West over the post-election turmoil in the Islamic republic.
- It is the latest retaliatory action against Britain, which Iran has accused of stoking the unrest that swept the country after the disputed election that returned hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.
- "Eight members of the local staff at the British embassy who had a considerable role in the recent riots have been arrested," the Fars news agency said without quoting a source.
- Last week, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned that Iran may downgrade ties with Britain, after the two governments expelled diplomats in a tit-for-tat move.
- Iran has also expelled the BBC correspondent in Tehran and arrested a British-Greek journalist, as well as a number of other British passport-holders it says were involved in rioting.
- The latest backlash against the West came as opposition leaders in Iran kept up their defiance of the regime, rejecting a panel set up to hold a partial recount of ballots cast in the June 12 vote.
- Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's strongest rival, is still insisting on a new vote while another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, has demanded an independent panel to probe irregularities.
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