Iran: British-Greek Reporter Held for Weeks Freed

The government has insisted the vote was legitimate and that the opposition is being fueled by outsiders.

In this photo released by Iranian Students News Agency, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks...

In this photo released by Iranian Students News Agency, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Saturday July, 4, 2009. (AP Photo/ISNA) EDITORIAL USE ONLY -- EDITORS NOTE AS A RESULT OF AN OFFICIAL IRANIAN GOVERNMENT BAN ON FOREIGN MEDIA COVERING SOME EVENTS IN IRAN, THE AP WAS PREVENTED FROM INDEPENDENT ACCESS TO THIS EVENT.

(AP)

Authorities say 20 "rioters" and eight members of the paramilitary Basij militia tasked with putting down the protests were killed during the violence.

Officials had detained nine Iranians working at the British Embassy, accusing them of fomenting unrest. All but one have been released, according to Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, the lawyer for the employee still in custody. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Sunday two employees were still in custody, and one was to be released Sunday. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

Khorramshahi said the employee, whom he identified as Hossein Rassam, a political analyst at the embassy, was charged with harming Iran's national security.

The conservative political establishment threatened more legal action on Sunday.

Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi called for a review of complaints against people suspected of cooperating with foreign-based satellite television channels.

"An increase in the quantity and quality of the hostile satellite channels requires taking serious action to confront the phenomenon," he said in a letter to judiciary officials, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iranian officials have clamped down on media and blamed foreign news organizations, including the Farsi-language services of the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Voice of America, for the unrest.

The postelection turmoil threatens to leave Iran more isolated than it already was due to the standoff with the West over its nuclear program. It has also imperiled President Barack Obama's aim to engage the country in dialogue after years of being shunned by the Bush administration.

Vice President Joe Biden, in an interview broadcast Sunday, seemed to give Israel a green light for military action against Iran's nuclear program, saying the U.S. "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."