UK NEWS

STAFF AT OUR EMBASSY IN IRAN FACING EXECUTION

CONFLICT: Angry Iranians chant anti-Western slogans at prayers

Saturday July 4,2009

By Nick Fragge

TWO workers at the British Embassy in Iran were facing the death penalty last night after they were branded traitors by a key figure in the country’s fanatical Islamic regime.

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati accused the embassy employees, who are both Iranian, of plotting violent protests on Britain’s orders following last month’s disputed presidential election.

Speaking at Friday prayers, the cleric said: “In these incidents, their embassy had a presence, some people were arrested.

“Naturally they will be put on trial, they have made confessions.”

The Ayatollah did not say what charges the workers would face.

But both have been accused of crimes tantamount to treason, punishable by death in Iran, which follows the Muslim sharia law justice system.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband dismissed the accusations and called for the immediate release of the two.

He said: “We are confident that our staff have not engaged in any improper or illegal behaviour.

“We remain deeply concerned about the two members of our staff who remain in detention.”

Hundreds of people are executed every year in Iran. The most common method is hanging.

But those found guilty of moral offences such as adultery are stoned to death.

Confessions are often extracted under torture, claims the human rights organisation Amnesty.

Ayatollah Jannati, who is close to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the country’s “enemies” had been plotting a “velvet revolution” in the Islamic republic.

Khamenei has described Britain as the “most evil” of Iran’s enemies.

Nine British Embassy workers – economic and political advisers – were detained by Iranian authorities as part of the brutal clamp down on pro-democracy demonstrations. Only two remain in detention, according to the Foreign Office, one of whom is accused of playing “a significant role” in stirring up protests.

Last night Mr Miliband was seeking “clarification” from Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchechr Mottaki.

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague described the prospect of a show trial of any British Embassy staff as “utterly unacceptable”.

The EU has also warned Iran not to put the British embassy workers on trial and has threatened to suspend visas from Iranian diplomatic staff in retaliation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said: “Our solidarity with our English friends is total.”

Ayatollah Jannati is head of Iran’s powerful Guardian’s Council and backs hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured after millions poured out into the streets to protest against his re-election in the disputed poll result.

Some 18 British Foreign Office staff remain at the British Embassy in Tehran after two diplomats were expelled last week by the Iranian regime.