Employee of the Iranian embassy to seek asylum in Norway, says lawyer

An employee of the Iranian Embassy in Oslo is reportedly seeking asylum in Norway. A lawyer for the Iranian man, who remains anonymous, said he was in hiding with his family while Norwegian authorities handle his application. The lawyer, Joergen Loevdal, said his client asked for asylum in December but declined to say for what reasons. It's unclear whether the man has diplomatic status.
Several Iranian diplomats have defected in recent years to protest human rights and electoral abuses in Iran.

These include Mohammad Reza Heydari, a former consular official in Norway, who defected in 2009, and Farzad Farhangian, who left the Iranian Embassy in Brussels in 2010.

Hossein Alizadeh resigned in 2010 from the Iranian Embassy in Finland to join the political opposition.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa