The European Union has summoned all Iranian ambassadors appointed to EU countries to protest the recent arrest of the British Embassy's local staffers in Tehran.

"We are summoning the Iranian ambassadors throughout the European Union and we will be monitoring the situation next week concerning the local personnel from the British Embassy," AFP quoted a source close to the Swedish EU presidency.

"All options remain open," added the source who was speaking on condition of anonymity.

The move comes only five days after nine of the British Embassy's Iranian employees were arrested in Tehran after being caught on camera provoking anti-government protests.

"The British Embassy played a crucial role in the recent (post-election) unrest both through its local staff and via media," IRNA quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i as saying on Sunday.

"We have photos and videos of certain local employees of the British Embassy, who collected news about the protests," he added.

The British government rejected the claims made by Iranian officials with Foreign Secretary David Miliband describing the arrests as “harassment and intimidation”.

This is while Tehran's Interim Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said the staff members who were arrested would stand trial over the role they played in the unprecedented turmoil.

The British Foreign Office reacted by saying reports that Iranian authorities plan to put two of the embassy's local employees on trial were cause for serious concern.

"We are concerned and we are checking the reports," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said. "We will be seeking an urgent explanation from the Iranians."

Britain has been pressuring EU member-states to withdraw their ambassadors from Tehran in protest to the detention of its embassy staff.

The demand, however, has been met with an unenthusiastic response in the European Union with Germany arguing that a withdrawal of envoys would only complicate matters further.

SBB/HGH