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Anti-British protests have been held outside the UK embassy in Tehran

Some UK embassy staff detained in Tehran and accused of inciting protests after disputed elections will face trial, a top Iranian cleric says.

Guardians Council chief Ahmad Jannati said: "Naturally they will be put on trial, they have made confessions."

Nine embassy staff were held in Tehran last weekend. Britain says all but two have now been freed.

EU governments are to summon Iranian ambassadors to protest against the detention of the embassy staff.

An EU official told the BBC that, in addition, visas for Iranians holding Iranian diplomatic passports would be suspended.

The officials said other measures, including the withdrawal of EU ambassadors from Iran, would be considered if the remaining two British embassy staff were not released.

After the election, the enemy could not stand people's joy and made an effort to poison the people

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati



Britain and Iran's fraught history

Protests gripped Tehran and other Iranian cities after June's presidential election, amid claims the vote had been rigged in favour of the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Guardians Council - Iran's supreme legislative body, which Ayatollah Jannati heads - on Monday ratified the disputed result, following a partial recount.

'Velvet revolution' plan

Ayatollah Jannati did not say how many employees would be tried or on what charges.

"In these incidents, their embassy had a presence, some people were arrested," he told the thousands of worshippers at Friday prayers, according to news agencies.

Ayatollah Jannati said on Friday: "After the election, the enemy could not stand people's joy. The enemy made an effort to poison the people. They had planned a velvet revolution before the election."

He said the UK Foreign Office had warned of possible "street riots" around the 12 June election and had advised its nationals to avoid public places.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says Ayatollah Jannati's speech marks a significant deterioration in the already bad relationship between London and Tehran.

Claims 'without foundation'

Tehran has repeatedly accused foreign powers - especially Britain and the US - of stoking unrest after the election.

Britain has protested strongly against the arrests and rejected the Iranian allegations as baseless.
IRAN UNREST
12 June presidential election saw incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected with 63% of vote
Main challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi called for result to be annulled for electoral fraud
Street protests saw at least 17 people killed and foreign media restricted




In the fallout from the crisis, Tehran expelled two British diplomats and the UK responded with a similar measure.

"We are very concerned by these reports and are investigating. Allegations that our staff were involved in fomenting unrest are wholly without foundation," a British foreign office statement said on Friday.

Five of the nine employees were reportedly released on Monday and Iranian state media said on Wednesday it had freed three more, but British and EU officials say two remain in custody.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported this week that one of the detainees had played a "remarkable role during the recent unrest in managing it behind the scenes".

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last month described Britain, as the "most evil" of its enemies.

Library ballot boxes

Meanwhile, the governor of one of Iran's biggest cities, Shiraz, has denied reports that a number of sealed ballot boxes in its main library contained votes from last month's election.

Ebrahim Azizi said the boxes were from previous polls and that the interior ministry had ordered they be archived there.

Earlier this week, an Iranian journalist posted pictures on the internet of several ballot boxes sitting on the floor of the library.

Historians say the distrust between the UK and Iran stems from the 1800s, when Iran - then Persia - was forced to concede territory to Russia in a treaty drafted by a British diplomat.

In more modern times, British operatives backed a CIA-organised coup in 1953 against an elected Iranian government.

In 2007, Iran seized 15 British navy personnel on patrol in waters between Iraq and Iran and held them for 12 days, during which time they were paraded on national television.

Britain is also among the most vocal opponents of Iran's nuclear programme, saying its aim is to develop atomic weapons, a claim denied by Tehran.

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