Miliband: Detention of British Embassy staff in Tehran unacceptable

UK criticizes arrest of British Embassy staff

CORFU, Greece — Britain’s foreign secretary says the government is “deeply concerned” at the arrest and detention of British Embassy employees in Tehran.

David Miliband, who is on the Greek island of Corfu for a foreign ministers’ meeting, said Britain has protested to the Iranian authorities about the arrests, which he said occurred Saturday.

The foreign secretary described the detentions as “harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable.”

Iranian media reported Sunday that authorities had detained eight local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran for an alleged role in postelection protests, signaling a hardening of Iran’s stance toward the West.