13 DECEMBER 1986, Page 5

ROGER COOPER

FOR more than a year Roger Cooper, who has written many pieces for the Spectator about the Middle East, has been impris- oned, without being charged, in Teheran. On Monday of this week, the Foreign Office at last summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires to tell him this was unacceptable. A charge of spying has now been brought. We hope that this hasty reaction by the Iranian authorities will be followed by the recognition that Roger Cooper is certainly not a spy, and should be released.