Iran says writer confesses over 'velvet revolution'

TEHRAN, Aug 17 (Reuters) A senior Iranian judiciary official said jailed writer Ramin Jahanbegloo had confessed to trying to undermine the Islamic Republic's system of clerical rule, a newspaper reported today.

Prosecutor General Qorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi said Jahanbegloo had accepted his involvement in the ''velvet revolution'', which Iran says is a US plot to use intellectuals and others inside the country to bring about ''regime change''.

Canadian-Iranian philosopher Jahanbegloo was arrested in Tehran in May on spying charges. He had no right to a lawyer as judiciary officials said his detention was a ''security case''.

''Jahanbegloo has accepted his mistakes and has apologised for his mistakes,'' the Kargozaran newspaper quoted Dorri-Najafabadi as saying.

Canada has asked Iran to either release or charge the writer.

Tehran and Ottawa's diplomatic ties have been poor since Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in detention in Iran in 2003 after being arrested for photographing Evin prison.

The European Union and human rights groups have also criticised the treatment of Jahanbegloo. Some western diplomats say the arrest of Jahanbegloo and some journalists aims to intimidate critics into silence.

Iran dismisses accusations of rights violations and says it does not hold any political prisoners.

Jahanbegloo, educated at the Sorbonne in Paris and Harvard University, has written and lectured on democracy in Iran and how the Islamic Republic can engage with the West. He has also challenged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks that the Holocaust was a ''myth''.

Iran denies any link between Jahanbegloo's articles and his detention.

REUTERS PB ND1610