Robert Macaire, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Iran has left the country after he was arrested and detained last week for attending a vigil for victims of Ukrainian airliner shootdown:
UK ambassador to Iran has flown back to Britain. UK says it’s a planned working visit. He was detained briefly on Saturday evening after attending a vigil in Tehran for the victims of the Ukrainian airline crash.
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) January 15, 2020
Was it because an Iranian cleric wanted him “chopped into pieces”?
Iranian Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda: U.K. Ambassador Should Be Chopped into Pieces; Hundreds of Thousands of U.S. Soldiers Were Killed in Our Missile Attack; Iranians Who Refused to Step on Flags of Israel, U.S. Should Be Court-Martialed, Executed pic.twitter.com/38bp0ED6Gw
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 15, 2020
The UK is saying it’s for a “long planned working visit,” which we don’t buy for a second:
FCO sources say UK ambassador to Iran Rob Macaire @HMATehran has flown back to UK for long planned working visit. They say it’s a routine trip & unconnected to his arrest at a vigil for Flight 752 dead & expulsion calls from judiciary. Yesterday his effigy was burned in Tehran.
— James Landale (@BBCJLandale) January 15, 2020
Iran’s government really wasn’t happy with him:
Yesterday the judiciary spokesman said it was unacceptable to see the British ambassador in tehran attend an illegal gathering take photos and video, have an instigator role
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) January 15, 2020
He said in international law such a person is declared “persona non grata” and the hosting country can ask him to leave. He said he was an unacceptable person and called for him to be sacked.
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) January 15, 2020
They also burned an effigy of him on Tuesday:
There was also a protest yesterday where an effigy of the U.K. ambassador Robert Maccaire was burned.
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) January 15, 2020
They seem nice:
Iran: Effigy of British Ambassador to #Iran being burned today in Tehran pic.twitter.com/8gt5d9ztgH
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 14, 2020
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