Iran clears Briton of spy charges

Iran has dropped spying charges against Andrew Pyke, a British businessman imprisoned in Tehran for the past seven months, British diplomats said. Officials from the British interests section of the Swedish Embassy visited Mr. Pyke Tuesday and were told by judicial authorities that "a charge which could be construed as espionage had been dropped," the diplomats said. But other charges , relating to the financial affairs of his company, Anglo-Iranian Helicopter Services, would be pressed. There was no indication when he would go on trial.

Mr. Pyke, picked up at Tehran airport last Aug. 29 as he tried to leave the country, is the last Briton in Ira n.