London summons Iranian ambassador after arrest of diplomat in Tehran

London denounces "unacceptable violation of the Vienna Convention". On Monday January 13, the British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian ambassador to express "strong objections" after the brief arrest on Saturday of the British ambassador in Tehran.

According to the BBC, Ambassador Rob Macaire was detained just over an hour for participating in a demonstration in Tehran. An hour too long for the United Kingdom which asked the Iranian ambassador Hamid Baeidinejad for assurances that this would not happen again.

Tehran has accused Rob Macaire of being present at an "illegal rally" in violation of diplomatic conventions. On Saturday, several hundred students gathered to pay tribute to the passengers of the Ukrainian Boeing shot down Wednesday "by mistake" by Iran, mainly Iranians and Canadians. But the rally turned into a manifestation of anger.

"I left after five minutes"

For his part, Rob Macaire declared on Twitter not to have attended a demonstration but to have wanted to go to an event "presented as a ceremony of homage to the victims of the tragedy of the [theft] PS752". "It is normal to want to pay tribute - some of the victims were British. I left after five minutes, when they started to sing."

Thanks for the many goodwill messages. Can confirm I wasn't taking part in any demonstrations! Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of # PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects- some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting.

After its initial denials, Iran admitted on Saturday that its armed forces had "mistakenly" shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane, causing outrage in the country. Tehran said that at the time of the shooting, its defense was on the alert for a possible "total conflict" with the United States.

With AFP

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