TEHRAN, Sept 18: President Mohammad Khatami has condemned the arrest of the organizers of a film festival which enraged hardliners, warning that such pressures would push intellectuals to flee Iran, newspapers reported on Saturday.

"I do not care what happened there (at the festival), but such confrontations will only ... lead to the loss of our artists and intellectuals," the president was quoted as saying.

The organizers were arrested by Iran's moral police following protests over this year's Festival.

"Intellectuals will work anywhere they go. But for the progress of the country, they feel obliged to stay here and endeavour," the president said.

Abolhasan Davoodi, head of the non-governmental Cinema House, was summoned and interrogated by police on Tuesday night for "repeated protests over non-observance of the Islamic dress code" during the movie award festival.-AFP