Tehran, Nov 25, IRNA -- Members of the central council of the Office to Foster Unity (OFU) called for the immediate release of the Iranian student Mehdi Nasiri, who was arrested by Iraqi security forces at the shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) in Karbala on Saturday.

OFU member Seyed Mehdi Ahmadi told IRNA that Nasiri has done no illegal acts while accompanying a group of Iranian students who visited Iraq for pilgrimage of the Shia holy sites.

He condemned the Iraqi security agents who attacked a group of Iranian pilgrims who had staged a protest at the arrest of their fellow student.

Another student leader Saeed Razavi Faqih also voiced condemnation against the Iraqi maltreatment of the Iranian pilgrims.

He said the Iranian students would have to ask international organizations to probe into the issue if the Iraqi officials would refrain to release Nasiri.

Earlier today, a group of university students staged a sit-in outside the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran to protest the arrest of their classmate Mehdi Nasiri, arrested by Iraqi security forces on Saturday.

The students termed the act of the Iraqi forces as "inhumane and contradictory to the basic principles of human rights".

They asked Iran's Foreign Ministry to take prompt action to bring the issue to an end.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi denounced Nasiri's arrest calling the move by Baghdad "unacceptable".

Iran accords high respect for their nationals and will follow up the release of the Iranian pilgrim through various channels, he noted.

The detained student pilgrim had been accused of breaking Iraqi law by posing for a photograph in front of a portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

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