Danish student detained at Tehran rally: IFJ group

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish student has been detained by Iranian authorities after being arrested in Tehran Wednesday in connection with this week's rally, the International Federation of Journalists said Friday.

Supporters of Iran's opposition and police clashed in Tehran Wednesday when an annual state-organized rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy turned violent.

"Niels was arrested Wednesday. This information comes from our affiliates in Iran," said Ernest Sagaga, spokesman at the Brussels-based journalist association.

An Agence France Presse (AFP) reporter arrested while covering Wednesday's rally may be released at the weekend, an Iranian official said Thursday.

Foreign media have been banned from covering street protests since the demonstrations over the disputed June presidential vote, which the opposition says was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The Danish foreign ministry said journalism student Niels Krogsgaard, 31, had been reported missing Wednesday and it was in contact with Iranian authorities on the matter.

Krogsgaard is traveling in Iran with a fellow student, doing research for a course at a Danish journalism school.

"There were two demonstrations -- one pro-government and another against, and our information is that he was arrested at the latter. We have not been able to establish where he is held," Sagaga said.

Danish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Charlotte Slente said the Danish embassy in Tehran was trying to locate Krogsgaard.

"Today the Danish Journalism Association has said that his name is on a list of detained people. Right now we are trying to get that information confirmed," Slente said.

Iran's Fars news agency said two foreign journalists and one Iranian working for foreign media were detained during Wednesday's rallies.

The Japanese embassy in Tehran denied one detail of the Fars report, saying a Japanese citizen, not a journalist, was briefly detained Wednesday.

Iran's Culture Ministry that supervises foreign media activities in Iran denied the report by Fars.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, additional reporting by Henriette Jensen in Copenhagen and Parisa Hafezi in Tehran)