UK asks Iran for information on arrest of British-Iranian

Britain said today it was "urgently seeking information" from Iran about the arrest of an Iranian-British national, while the British Council said an Iranian employee had also been detained.

Mahan Abedin is a journalist specialising in Islamic affairs and an analyst of Middle East politics who is head of the research group Dysart Consulting.

Asked about his reported arrest, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities following reports of the arrest of a British-Iranian dual national".

Abedin would be the second British-Iranian dual national arrested in Iran in less than a month.

Iranian media last week confirmed that Abbas Edalat, a London-based British-Iranian computer scientist and peace campaigner had been arrested.

An Iranian national Aras Amiri, who lives in London, was also held while on a private trip, according to the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran.

A spokeswoman for the British Council, the country's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, today said: "We are aware that one of our staff has been detained in Iran while making a private family visit.

"The colleague is an Iranian national. Despite an assertion that this individual has travelled to Iran for work this is not the case.

"The British Council does not have offices or representatives in Iran," she said.