British ambassador leaves Iran after being briefly detained - report
Robert Macaire was briefly detained on Saturday, which Iranian officials said was because he attended an illegal demonstration. He stated that he had attended a vigil for victims of the crash.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERSRobert Macaire(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
British Ambassador to Tehran Robert Macaire has left Iran, Ynet reported on Wednesday quoting local reports.MaCaire was briefly detained on Saturday, which Iranian officials said was because he attended an illegal demonstration, which took place amid public anger over Iran's belated admission that its military shot down a passenger plane. He denied the accusations, saying that he had attended a vigil for victims of the crash. London said his detention was a violation of diplomat conventions.On Tuesday Iran's judiciary said that the ambassador was an "undesirable element," state media reported."Based on international regulations, the British ambassador in Iran is an undesirable element," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters, when asked about the British envoy. His remarks were carried on state television.A prominent hardline Iranian cleric also said expelling the ambassador would be "the best thing that can happen to him" as otherwise loyal supporters of a general killed in a US drone strike would "chop him to small pieces," Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda said, in remarks carried by Eslahat new website.According to Ynet, Macaire flew from Tehran to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
