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Iranians protesting - Source: Reuters -
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Iranian authorities have arrested a Greek journalist covering Iran's disputed presidential election for the Washington Times, a Greek foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, calling for his release.
Greek national Iason Athanasiadis was arrested three days ago in Tehran on charges of "illegal activities", a friend of the journalist said.
"We can confirm that he has been arrested," the foreign ministry spokesman said. "We are in constant contact with Iranian authorities in order to have a quick and good end to this story."
"Right now we are interested in having him freed as soon as we can," he said.
The spokesman declined to comment further on the arrest.
The semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency quoted the head of foreign media affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as confirming the arrest.
"This Greek national has travelled to this country a number of times for journalistic work for different media but I'm not informed of his crime," the official, Mohsen Moghadeszadeh, was quoted as saying.
Iranian authorities have told Greece Athanasiadis exceeded the duration of his visa, said a Greek official who declined to be named, adding that the arrest was made five days ago.
