British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called for the release of eight Iranian staff members of the British Embassy in Tehran.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
Miliband told reporters Sunday that the detentions were harassment and intimidation that are not acceptable.

Iran's Fars news agency says the eight employees were detained for involvement in the country's post-election unrest.

Also Sunday, state media report Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is accusing British and U.S. officials of making absurd comments about Iran. 

Tehran has accused both Britain and the United States of involvement in the street protests and violence that swept the country after its June 12 presidential election.

Last week, Iran expelled two British diplomats, prompting Britain to respond in kind. Following the incident, Iran's foreign minister warned that the country may consider downgrading ties with Britain.

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says there was widespread fraud in the presidential vote, which declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

Iran's Guardian Council had offered to randomly recount 10 percent of the ballots from the vote.

Mr. Mousavi has rejected the partial recount, insisting that the results be annulled.

Iran's crackdown has included heavy restrictions on reporting as well as the arrest of dozens of university professors, dissidents, journalists and ordinary citizens.

The official death toll from violence since the disputed vote is 17, but witnesses say it is much higher.

In another development, European foreign policy chief Javier Solana says he would like to restart talks with Iran on the country's nuclear program.

Solana says the European Union does not want to interfere in Iran's internal affairs, but will continue its criticism of the crackdown by security forces and the arrests of demonstrators.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.