OSLO, Norway, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- An Iranian diplomat seeking asylum in Norway, said he would support a violent uprising against the Iranian government.
Farzad Farhangian, a press attache at the Iranian Embassy in Brussels, is the third Iranian diplomat to defect this year, al-Arabiya network reported.
Farhangian, 47, told reporters in Oslo Tuesday he would support the use of violence in the struggle against the current administration in Tehran, the network said.
When asked by a reporter if there should be a violent uprising, he said, "Given the recent events, I want it (the government) to be overthrown."
Farhangian said he and his family are seeking political asylum in Norway, the network said.
"I'm apologizing to the Iranian people. During the last 30 years I was of service to the Iranian people, 23 of them in the diplomatic service, but the deviation that the Iranian republic has reached leaves me no choice," the network quoted him saying. "I hope to be a voice of the opposition."
Hossein Alizadeh, the former deputy head of mission for the Iranian Embassy in Finland, told reporters he was seeking asylum in Finland.
Alizadeh, who resigned last week, said he had received "unofficial threats" via e-mail and that he was "going to request political asylum from the Finnish government."
The ex-consul general of Iran's Embassy in Oslo, Mohamed Reza Heydari, was granted asylum by Norway in February, after he resigned the previous month, the network said.
Farhangian said he had chosen to defect to Norway because of Heydari.
"I'm hoping that in cooperation we will improve the campaign against the present government," he said.
Heydari, who was at Tuesday's press conference, told reporters: "I expect there will be more defections very soon."
