Tehran, Dec 29, IRNA -- Ahmad Bourghani, an MP from Tehran, was released here Sunday after posting 200 million rials (dlrs 25,000) in bail at a court which interrogated him in connection with the case of a polling institute that claimed most Iranians favored ties with the United States.

"At the end of the (trial) session, a 200 million rial bail was issued for me, which was paid. It was also decided that the court holds an open trial on December 31," he told IRNA.

Bourghani said the court had indicted him on charges of "illegally spending state funds" and "complicity in misusing the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's logo" during his tenure as deputy culture minister four years ago.

"Paying 200 million rials to the institute, headed by Behrouz Geranpayeh, has been cited as illegal," he said of the head of National Institute for Research and Opinion Polls which published results of the controversial polling on Iran-US ties.

"I presented my explanations to the court in detail, saying that the payment had been made in line with the law and a common trend in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance," Bourghani said, adding "there are many similar cases from the past and all payments are legal from my vantage view".

"As for the logo, I explained that I have not violated the law and no misuse has been made," he went on to say.

Three people, including former student leader who participated at the takeover of US embassy here in 1979, Abbas Abdi, have been arrested in connection with the polling case.

On Wednesday, Abdi stood trial at a packed court here to charges of "selling information and tampering with the polling".

The court has accused the defendants of carrying out the research on the order of the Washington-based Gallup Organization.

Other people involved in the case are Hossein Qazian and Alireza Alavitabar. Geranpayeh faces similar charges which have yet to be brought against him.

Abdi is also a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, whose arrest this year came on the 23rd anniversary of the embassy takeover.

Tehran and Washington have held no diplomatic ties since 1979 after the US severed its relations with the Islamic Republic after 'Students Following the Line of Imam' stormed the US embassy, known as the den of espionage, and took its staff hostage.