Iranian Hardliner Calls Opposition Leader US Agent

An Iranian worshipper chants anti-US and anti-Israel slogans during a Friday prayer's ceremony, at...

An Iranian worshipper chants anti-US and anti-Israel slogans during a Friday prayer's ceremony, at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2009. A top Iranian cleric said Friday that some of the detained Iranian staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial, and he accused Britain of a role in instigating widespread protests that erupted over the country's disputed presidential election. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

(AP)

The phrase refers to the huge demonstrations in Czechoslovakia in 1989 that forced the Communist regime to abandon power. Western-oriented intellectuals and activists were at the heart of those demonstrations, and Iran's frequent use of the phrase underlines authorities' contention that the postelection protests were fomented by foreign influence. Iran blames the United States and Britain in particular.

Abtahi was a vice president under Khatami. Fars did not give further details about what punishment Abtahi and Ghoochani could face or about their confessions.

Their families have rejected the charges as baseless saying confessions obtained under pressure were worthless.

Mehdi Karroubi, a defeated reformist presidential candidate, visited the family of both Abtahi and Ghoochani on Saturday calling their detention "illegal."

"These actions destroy public trust. It's very dangerous. We are facing a cultural and religious catastrophe with extensive dimensions," Karroubi told the families.

Some human rights groups have raised concerns that people detained in the postelection turmoil could be forced into making bogus confessions under torture or other duress, and reformists have said purported confessions since the post-election turmoil were worthless.

Soon after the unrest began, Iran detained nine local members of the British Embassy staff on accusations of fomenting unrest. All but one were released and on Saturday his lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshi, told The Associated Press he had been charged with "acting against national security."

The lawyer identified his client as Hossein Rassam, a political analyst at the embassy, and expected a trial soon.

Britain's Foreign Office could not confirm that an embassy employee had been charged and said it was "seeking urgent clarification from the Iranian authorities."

Even before the news, there had been calls in Europe for tougher action against Tehran. Britain is pressing for members of the European Union to pull their ambassadors out of Tehran to protest the staffers' arrests.