The British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, said he was only participating in a vigil for the victims of the Ukrainian plane shot down by the Iranian Army when he was arrested by the country’s authorities, and accused with “fostering a protest.”
“Thank you for the messages of good will,” the diplomat wrote this Sunday in his Twitter account. “I can confirm that I was not participating in any protest. I went to an event described as a vigil for the victims of flight PS752,” he said.
The diplomat said it is “normal” to go and pay your respects at a tragedy in which there were three British citizens among the 176 dead, but he stated that he left “after five minutes, when people began to sing.”
“I was detained for half an hour after leaving the area. Of course, the arrest of diplomats is illegal in all countries,” Macaire added before referring to the protest statement issued by the UK Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, who also denounced what happened as a “flagrant violation of international law.”
The Commissioner of Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, joined in expressing his concern on Sunday for the arrest of the diplomat.
“Very concerned about the temporary detention of the United Kingdom ambassador to Iran. Full respect for the Vienna Convention is imperative. The EU calls for the de-escalation and a need for diplomacy,” Borrell said in his Twitter account.
