Britain works to free final embassy worker

Published: July 5, 2009 at 7:05 AM
Iran's Friday Prayer

LONDON, July 5 (UPI) -- British officials say they've been assured the eighth of nine embassy workers detained in Iran is to be released Sunday.

The eighth worker was to be freed without a court process or charges, leaving the embassy's chief political analyst as the sole member of the group still in custody, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC.

"All of our efforts are now directed towards getting that person out," Miliband said.

The chief analyst, an Iranian citizen, is charged with acting against Iran in conspiracy with Britain to undermine the Iranian regime, the analyst's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said.

Khorramshahi said Saturday he had been unable to meet with his client in Evin prison in Tehran or see a copy of the indictment, the BBC reported.

The analyst is an "honorable, patriotic Iranian, who has been working in a completely open and transparent way" for the United Kingdom, Miliband said. "The allegations of improper conduct have absolutely no basis."

The embassy workers were arrested last month amid accusations Britain and the United States were fanning unrest over the presidential election, which protesters said had been rigged in favor of incumbent hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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