Authorities in Tehran have detained eight local British embassy staff, Iranian media said yesterday, underscoring the hardline leadership’s effort to blame post-election unrest on foreign powers, not popular anger.
Britain called the action “harassment and intimidation” and demanded the release of all the embassy employees still held.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced what he called “interfering statements” by Western officials following Iran’s disputed presidential election, state media reported.
“If the [Iranian] nation and officials are unanimous and united, then the temptations of international ill-wishers and interfering and cruel politicians would no longer have an impact,” state radio quoted Khamenei as saying.
“By voicing absurd opinions on Iran, they speak in a way as if all their problems have been resolved and it is only Iran’s problems that remain,” Iran’s clerical ruler said.
The West and Iran are at odds over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program as well as its handling of the unrest. The US, Britain and their allies have long urged Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment they suspect is aimed at bomb-making. Iran says its nuclear aims are entirely peaceful.
Khamenei on June 19 called Britain the “most treacherous” of Iran’s enemies and accused it of orchestrating an unprecedented outpouring of protest after the June 12 poll.
The streets of Tehran have sunk back into a sullen calm after riot police and religious basij militia crushed huge demonstrations in which at least 20 people were killed.
“Everybody is depressed, everybody is afraid,” said a Mousavi voter in his 20s in northern Tehran.
The authorities, while taking tough action to snuff out any embers of protest, have repeatedly accused Britain and the US of inciting the turmoil. Both countries deny it.
“Eight local employees at the British embassy who had a considerable role in recent unrest were taken into custody,” the semi-official Fars news agency said, without saying when.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said about nine employees had been detained, but some had been freed.
“We are still concerned about a number of them who to our knowledge have not been released,” he told reporters at an international conference in Corfu. “This is harassment and intimidation of a kind that is quite unacceptable.”
“The idea that the British embassy is somehow behind the demonstrations and protests that have been taking place in Tehran in recent weeks is wholly without foundation,” he said.
The detentions will further strain ties between London and Tehran. They have already expelled two of each other’s diplomats since the election, which stirred Iran’s most spectacular display of internal dissent since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
A Western diplomat said Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and their allies had achieved a short-term victory and were now determined to press their advantage.
“It is a system which has been challenged and which now strikes back,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.
Official results showing hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election by a landslide were met with disbelief by many Iranians who agreed with complaints by the runner-up, Mirhossein Mousavi, who said the vote was rigged.
Mousavi has repeated demands for the election to be rerun, in defiance of Khamenei who declared the poll fair, but he appears to have dwindling options for any further challenge.
The Guardian Council, Iran’s top legislative body, is to give its final verdict on the election by today.
The 12-man body has offered a partial recount — rejected by Mousavi and fellow-candidate Mehdi Karoubi — but it has already described the poll as the healthiest since the revolution.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned