"We are a cosmetics company, we are selling direct. We are of course not involved in any political activities in the country. It is very very difficult to comment on" the accusations, Oriflame's chief financial officer Gabriel Bennet told AFP.

The company has not yet received information as to why its office in Tehran was shut down and five of its employees detained on August 22.

"It's very difficult to comment on this because we don't know why our colleagues have been detained, we don't know why the company has been shut down," he said.

"We are seeking a dialogue with the authorities but we need to know more about why we are in this situation before we can make any comments."

"We are doing our utmost to solve the situation in Iran and especially for our colleagues being detained," he added.

Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi on Saturday said Oriflame was trying to harm Iran's security, the state television website reported.

"Oriflame intended to fight the (Iranian) system. There are no economic reasons behind the company," Moslehi was quoted by the website as telling reporters at the Imam Khomeini mausoleum in Tehran.

The Swedish company's Tehran office was shut down by Iranian authorities amid allegations that it was running a pyramid scheme and was possibly backed by a spy agency.

Five employees were detained, including a dual Swedish-Iranian national.

On Tuesday, Swedish foreign ministry officials held a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Stockholm Rasoul Eslami to discuss Oriflame's situation.

The case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two sentenced to death by stoning by an Iranian court, was also brought up, a ministry spokeswoman said.