Lawyer: Local British embassy employee charged by Iran with ‘acting against national security’

August 14th, 2009 Iran-American held 10 months in Iran returns to LALOS ANGELES — A graduate student detained for nearly a year in Iran has returned to Los Angeles. Esha Momeni (ESH'-ah moh-men-EE') was detained Oct.

August 11th, 2009 France says embassy employee freed by IraniansPARIS — Iranian authorities have freed a French Embassy employee on trial in Iran from a Tehran prison, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office announced Tuesday, asking that a young French academic also be quickly freed. Sarkozy hopes charges will be dropped against Nazak Afshar, who has duel French-Iranian citizenship, and that another French citizen on trial, 24-year-old academic Clotilde Reiss, can soon return home, a statement said.

August 9th, 2009 TEHRAN - Britain's troubled relations with Iran suffered a further setback as a British embassy official confessed to spying during a trial in Tehran, saying that Britain had provided financial assistance to Iran's reformists to weaken the hardline clerical regime during the disputed presidential elections in June this year. Hossein Rassam, a political analyst with the embassy, said the embassy had allocated a budget of 300,000 pounds to set up links with political groups, individuals and activists.

August 8th, 2009 French woman, embassy staff confess in Iran trialTEHRAN, Iran —A young French academic and local staff of the British and French embassies stood trial Saturday with dozens of Iranian opposition figures and confessed to being involved in the country's postelection unrest. Iran's opposition and rights groups have condemned the trial as a sham and say such confessions are coerced and scripted.

August 8th, 2009 UK says its embassy staffer on trial in TehranLONDON —Britain's Foreign Office says a staff member at its embassy in Iran has been put on trial in Tehran. The ministry says it saw Hossein Rassam pictured among those accused at a mass trial that began Saturday in the Iranian capital, though Rassam had been released from detention in July.

July 19th, 2009 Iran releases British Embassy employee on bailTEHRAN,Iran — The lawyer for an Iranian employee of the British Embassy accused of involvement in post-election protests says his client has been released on bail. Abdolsamad Khorramshi says Hossein Rassam, the embassy's chief political analyst, was released from Evin prison in Tehran on Sunday on bail of about $100,000.

July 19th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran Sunday freed a British embassy staffer, the last of nine arrested on suspicion in fomenting dissent after alleged fraud in Iran's June 12 presidential elections. Hossein Rassam, chief analyst of the British embassy, had been detained for more than three weeks.

July 17th, 2009 American's family fears Iranian show trialWASHINGTON — The family and associates of an Iranian-American scholar under arrest in Iran say they are worried that the Islamic Republic is preparing to bring him before a show trial. Iranian state-run Press TV has reported that Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested last week for working with a local employee of the British Embassy, Hossein Rassam, who also is being held in Tehran.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - One of the last two British Embassy employees, held in Iran on the alleged charges of being behind last month's post-election violence in the country, has been released. The British Foreign Office on Monday confirmed the news, but added that embassy's chief political analyst Hossein Rassam is still under detention.

July 5th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran is set to use a travel advisory posted on the British Foreign Office's website as evidence against a British Embassy employee in the political plot trial. British embassy's chief political analyst Hossein Rassam, 44, was accused of being a British agent provocateur behind last month's post-election street protests, the Telegraph reports.

July 4th, 2009 Iranian hardliner calls opposition leader US agentTEHRAN, Iran — A top aide to Iran's all-powerful leader has accused the country's main opposition leader of being an American agent who should be tried for treason, increasing the pressure on reformists disputing the outcome of last month's presidential election. There was no immediate reaction from Mir Hossein Mousavi to the accusation in an editorial Saturday in the conservative daily newspaper Khayan.

July 4th, 2009 TEHRAN - An Iranian lawyer has said that he is seeking the permission of the concerned authorities here to see a detained British embassy staffer who has been accused of "acting against national security". "I have not met with him yet, but I will ask the judiciary for an appointment," The Telegraph quoted lawyer Abolsamad Khorramshahi, as saying.

June 29th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran is not planning to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain or any European country, foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said Monday. Police arrested eight Iranian staff members of the British embassy in Tehran Sunday, a move condemned by British Foreign Minister David Miliband.

June 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran has arrested eight local staff members of the British embassy in Tehran for alleged involvement in demonstrations over the June 12 presidential election, Fars news agency reported Sunday. Iran accuses Western agents of inciting unrest and interfering in internal political matters.

June 28th, 2009 UK calls embassy detentions in Iran 'unacceptable'CORFU, Greece — Britain's foreign secretary categorically denied Sunday that his country had helped foment postelection discontent in Iran. David Miliband, who is on the Greek island of Corfu for a meeting of foreign ministers' from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, condemned the detention of British Embassy employees in Iran, which he said occurred Saturday.