WASHINGTON (AFP) - European powers led condemnation of the brutal crackdown that followed the poll. Post-election protests and rioting on a scale not seen in Iran for a decade erupted Saturday and touched off a police crackdown with some 170 people arrested. Irans brutal reaction to the protesters led France and Germany to decry the situation in the streets of Tehran. We are highly concerned because there was the beginning of a dialogue between Irans rival political factions, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris. I am sorry that instead of openness there has been a somewhat brutal reaction, Kouchner said. In Berlin, Germanys top diplomat called the police crackdown unacceptable and also raised questions about the legitimacy of the vote. The violent actions of the security forces against demonstrators is not acceptable, nor is preventing peaceful protest, said Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement. Reports of (voting) irregularities are a concern. I expect the authorities in Tehran to examine these accusations as closely as possible and to provide a comprehensive explanation. At least three international television networks reported interference with their broadcasting from Iran about the post-election violence. The British Broadcasting Corporation said the satellites it uses to broadcast BBC Persian television to Iran were being jammed. BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks said it seems to be part of a pattern of behaviour by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election. A BBC reporter and his crew were also briefly arrested after filming a piece. Two Dutch journalists were arrested and ordered out of the country, public broadcaster Nederland 2 said. And the Arab news channel Al-Arabiya said Sunday Iranian authorities had shut down its offices in Tehran for a week following the election. We are not allowed to do any coverage. No reason was given, and there was no earlier warning, executive editor Nabil al-Khateeb told AFP. Meanwhil, Iranian authorities on Sunday blocked German public television journalists from covering the protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the channels editors said. ARD correspondent Peter Mezger can no longer leave his hotel while ZDF journalist Halim Hosny and his colleagues have not been allowed to report on the events, their chief editors said in a letter to the Iranian ambassador. We see a breach of freedom of the press and democratic principles, they wrote. Among Irans neighbours reaction was more favourable, with congratulations coming from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Afghanistans leader Hamid Karzai, who called Ahmadinejads re-election a suitable selection. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday on his re-election as Irans president, a statement on his official website said. Talabani in a cable offered his warm congratulations to Ahmadinejad on his victory and said he was certain relations between Baghdad and Tehran would grow stronger in years to come. The Iraqi president asked Ahmadinejad to accept warm congratulations and blessings on the occasion of your re-election as president... and obtaining the trust of the people and their support for you, personally. I am confident that the friendly neighbourly ties binding our two countries will grow stronger in the years to come, in the interests of our two peoples, and peace, security and stability in the region. While, Afghan President Hamid Karzai telephoned his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory in disputed presidential elections, a statement from his office said. While world powers and key backers of the Kabul administration like Britain and the United States have reacted cautiously, Karzai labelled Ahmadinejads win a suitable selection. President Hamid Karzai congratulated Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the phone on his re-election as the president of Iran, the statement said. President Karzai during the phone conversation said that the large turnout in the election signalled the interest of Iranians in defining their destiny.