Iran said this morning five out of the nine detained local staff at the British embassy in Tehran had been released.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had spoken on the phone yesterday evening.
Iranian media said yesterday several local British embassy staff had been detained on accusations of involvement in street protests that rocked Iran after a disputed June 12 presidential election.
"Out of nine people, five of them have been released and the rest are being interrogated," Mr Qashqavi told a news conference in comments translated by Iran's English-language Press TV.
He said Mr Miliband had stressed in his conversation with Mr Mottaki that Britain's intention was not to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
"Mr Mottaki said that if they really prove this in practice ... this can be considered as a positive step," Qashqavi said.
Yesterday Mr Miliband demanded the release of all the staff held and said his European Union colleagues had agreed to a "strong, collective response" to any such "harassment and intimidation" against EU missions.