UK warns of 'consequences' as Iran charges Embassy employee

The U.K. demanded that Iran set free a British Embassy employee charged with threatening national security, saying the regime must back down or face a response. Hossein Rassam, an Iranian who is the senior political adviser of the U.K. Embassy, "has been accused of endangering national security," lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshi said by phone today in Tehran. Rassam is in detention, and it's not clear when his trial will start, Khorramshi said. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for Rassam to be released unharmed and threatened "consequences" if Iran's "intimidation" continues against British embassy officials. Miliband said in a British Broadcasting Corp. interview he's "confident" that Rassam was performing his duties properly. Another embassy staff member may be released today, he said. Seven others have been freed. The Iranian leadership is stepping up accusations that the U.S. and the U.K. incited protests by opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who say the president's June 12 re-election was rigged and demand a new vote. Iran's isolation has deepened since its crackdown on demonstrators, jeopardizing talks with the European Union on its nuclear program. The government arrested the nine local staff of the U.K. embassy a week ago on allegations they helped stoke the demonstrations, the largest since the shah was overthrown in 1979. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in support of Ahmadinejad's main challenger, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. The 27-member European Union summoned Iranian ambassadors after a senior cleric said at Friday prayers July 3 that some of the embassy employees would be put on trial. Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said July 1 that the bloc was discussing potential measures against Iran, when asked about reports that the U.K. was pressing for EU nations' ambassadors to be recalled. Iran insists the embassy staff in Tehran were part of a U.K. plot to foment unrest aimed at toppling the government. A senior Iranian lawmaker said a harsh penalty will be applied if the charges are upheld. "Naturally, if their espionage is proved, the judiciary should sentence them to the toughest punishment possible," Gholam Reza Karami, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying late yesterday by the semi-official Fars news agency.