Lawyer: Local British embassy employee charged by Iran with "acting against national security"

The lawyer for the last British Embassy staff member still being held in Iran, says his client has been charged with 'acting against national security." Iran detained nine local members of the embassy staff on accusations of spurring protests after the country's June 12th election.

The detained Iranian employee of the British Embassy was identified as Hossein Rassam, a political analyst at the embassy. His lawyer said he is expecting a trial soon.

Britain is pressing for members of the European Union to pull their ambassadors out of Tehran to protest the staffers' arrests.

But the lawyer said such actions were political moves, and as such had little relevance to his client's case.

Abdolssamad Hkorramshahi, Lawyer of Detained Iranian Employee, said, "We should examine it from a legal perspective as to whether the collection of reasons or documents, which will be presented at the court, will prove the accusation against Mr. Rassam or not."

Meanwhile, Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said that the post election unrest had "left no concrete effects" on Iran's international relations.

He added that "there are few governments which are always prone to making mistakes in analyzing Iranian issues."

Relations between Britain and Iran have been strained ever since Tehran accused Western countries, Britain in particular, of stoking the unrest that swept the country after the June 12th election.