OSLO, Norway (AP) — A lawyer says an Iranian diplomat in Norway is seeking asylum in the Nordic country.

Joergen Loevdal, the Norwegian attorney, says the diplomat, who he declined to name, defected from the Iranian Embassy in Oslo in December, and sought help from his Humlen & Rieber-Mohn law office, which specializes in immigration law.

Loevdal told The Associated Press on Friday the case is now under the jurisdiction of the Norwegian immigration authority, which declined to comment.

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Loevdal says policies of Iran’s government are leading Iranians, including diplomats, to join foreign-based opposition groups.

Several former Iranian diplomats who defected to the West have sought asylum in Norway.

In 2010, former Iranian consul Mohammad Reza Heydari resigned from his post to protest Iran’s crackdown on demonstrations there.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.