Britain says Iran frees embassy worker

Iran has released one of the last two British embassy employees detained in Tehran after the disputed presidential election, the British government said yesterday.

Iran arrested nine Iranian workers at the British embassy in Tehran, accusing them of instigating street protests after the elections. All but one have now been released.

Britain has denied Iranian accusations that the staff were involved in instigating opposition protests after the vote, which defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi says was rigged in favour of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It remains our top priority to get all of our embassy staff released as soon as possible," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "We are continuing intensive discussions with the Iranian authorities and our international partners to resolve this issue."

EU countries summoned Iranian ambassadors last Friday to protest against the detention of the British embassy employees and warned that they would take tougher steps if they were not released.