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SÃO PAULO—An Iranian diplomat has been accused of fondling girls at a local swimming pool in Brazil's capital city, a case testing local perceptions of diplomatic immunity laws.

Police detained the diplomat on Saturday at a swim club in Brasilia, where they found the man surrounded by a mob of irate parents, some seeking to thrash him and others pleading for calm until the authorities arrived, police officials said. Police didn't name the accused man, citing his diplomatic status. Police said the man denied wrongdoing.

Witnesses said the diplomat had been pretending to swim around the pool in a "duck-diving" manner, police said. While underwater, however, the diplomat surreptitiously fondled four girls between the ages of nine and 15 years, police said. Some of the girls began screaming and their parents confronted the man.

"It is really surprising that a diplomat would act in such a way," said Johnson Monteiro, a civil police detective who handled the case.