Iranian police arrest, detain British ambassador

British ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, has been arrested by the Iranian police for his attempt to foment unrest on the streets of the capital Tehran.

Reports in the Iranian media said, “Security forces have arrested the British ambassador to the country as he was trying to foment unrest in the streets of the capital Tehran.”

Robert Macaire, who was arrested yesterday, was briefly detained during a protest in front of the Amir Kabir University in downtown Tehran where he was organizing and provoking people angry at the government’s way of handling the aftermaths of a plane crash earlier this week.

“The ambassador was released several hours later but it is believed that he will be summoned (by Foreign Ministry) tomorrow and the case will be pursued,” said the report.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued a statement condemning the detention of Macaire, saying it had been carried out “without grounds or explanation”.

The British state is trying to exploit the tragic shooting down of a Ukraine Airlines plane in Iran for political and strategic ends.

Police in Tehran were forced to use tear gas to disperse some of the protesters gathering in front of the university hours after Iranian armed forces headquarters issued a statement clarifying circumstances surrounding the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines plane on January 8 which killed 176 people on board.