Britons are held in Iran unrest, says minister

A NUMBER of Britons have been arrested in Tehran following clashes between protesters and police, Iran state television has reported.

The Iranian intelligence minister was quoted on IRINN as saying British passport-holders "involved in the unrest" had been detained.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei also blamed Britain for issuing propaganda against Iran.

IRINN quoted Mr Ejei as referring to the "meddling of some alien countries" and said of the UK that it had "strongly propagated in its media against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and some of its agents have been involved in Iran's tension".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the statement that has been broadcast on Iranian state television, but we have had no formal notification of any arrests.

"We have no way of confirming whether people have been detained, but the embassy will making inquiries."

Protesters and riot police clashed in the streets around Iran's parliament last night as hundreds of people converged on a Tehran square in defiance of orders to halt demonstrations demanding a new presidential election, witnesses said.

Security forces appeared to vastly outnumber the demonstrators, and they beat protesters with batons and fired tear gas and bullets into the air.

The wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was defiant, saying protesters refused to buckle under a situation she compared to martial law.

A helicopter could be seen hovering over central Tehran, an area a witness said was swarming with riot police trying to prevent people from gathering even briefly. Thousands more security officers filled the surrounding streets, he said.

Iran blames the discontent on foreign powers. "Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel] were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli said.

Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was weighing whether to downgrade ties with Britain after each country expelled two diplomats this week. He also announced he had "no plans" to attend a G8 meeting in Italy this week on Afghanistan.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday refused to bow to demands from the protesters, effectively closing the door to any compromise with the opposition.

Mr Mousavi's official website had said a protest was planned outside parliament. But the site distanced him from the action, calling it independent and saying it had not been organised by the reformist candidate.

Mr Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, a former university dean who campaigned beside him, said on another of his websites that his followers had the constitutional right to protest and the government should not deal with them "as if martial law has been imposed in the streets".

She called for the release of all those arrested at protests.

Mr Mousavi, a former prime minister, saw his campaign transform into a protest movement after the government declared that hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 12 June election.

Mr Mousavi says the result was fraudulent, and western analysts who examined available data agreed there were indications of manipulation.

Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered protests to end, leaving Mr Mousavi with the choice of restraining followers or continuing to directly challenge the country's ultimate authority despite threats of escalating force.

Meanwhile, a conservative candidate in the election said he was withdrawing his complaints about voting fraud for the sake of the country, it was reported.

The announcement by Mohsen Rezaie, a former Revolutionary Guard commander, moved the government one step closer to a final declaration of victory for Mr Ahmadinejad.