UK ambassador to Tehran returns to London amid controversy in Iran

A cardboard cut-out of UK ambassador Rob Macaire, along with UK and US flags, at a protest in Tehran (Credit: AFP)

The UK ambassador to Tehran has left the country to return to the UK, less than a week after he was arrested by Tehran authorities. A spokesman for the UK's foreign office said this was a "long-planned visit" and that it was "very much business as usual."

The foreign office added in its statement that Rob Macaire, the UK's ambassador, would be meeting with the foreign secretary and will be returning to Tehran "in the coming days."

His visit comes after several incidents in Iran related to Macaire and deteriorating relations between the two countries. On 11 January, Macaire was arrested after a vigil he attended turned into a protest. The vigil was for the victims of the Ukrainian airplane that was accidentally shot down by Iran, killing 176 people.

He was detained for a little over an hour in what Dominic Raab, the UK's foreign secretary, called "a violation of international law." Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, said Macaire was arrested by accident and was released 15 minutes after he was identified.

On 13 January, Raab told parliament that "given the treatment of the ambassador, we are keeping the security measures for the embassy under review." The next day, a senior Iranian cleric said that expelling Macaire would be "the best thing that can happen to him, as otherwise he could be torn to pieces."

Iran's judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, also said that Macaire was "an undesirable element" in the country. The statement was broadcast on Iranian state TV. However, Raab said the UK had not received a formal notification that Iran was intending the expel the ambassador.

On Tuesday, protesters burned images of Macaire and the British and US flags during a vigil for the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash.

On the same day the UK, France and Germany also triggered the dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, potentially leading to UN sanctions against the country.