Iran: British role in violence 'obvious'

TEHRAN, July 10 (UPI) -- There are "obvious" signs that the BBC and the staff at the British Embassy in Tehran had a role in the post-election violence in Iran, police officials say.

Iran witnessed large public displays of dissent following the June 12 presidential election that saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claim a disputed victory.

Tehran has blamed a litany of foreign parties for stoking post-election unrest, notably Britain. Relations between Tehran and London worsened in the wake of the elections following the detention of British Embassy staff on allegations of inciting violence.

Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, the Iranian police chief, said there was no question Britain was behind the outbreak of violence in Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reports.

"The role that the British Embassy (in Tehran) and the BBC have played is too obvious to be denied," he said.

Despite a reprieve from street violence nearly a month after the elections, the Iranian state-funded broadcaster Press TV said hundreds of protesters gathered near Tehran University to voice their opposition on the 10th anniversary of the 1999 student uprisings.

Students in 1999 protested the closure of a reformist newspaper, prompting a violent reaction from members of the Basij paramilitary force. It was the most violent public protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Authorities had warned students against protesting Thursday, saying they had not received the necessary permits. Riot police responded with tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, Press TV reports.