UK envoy to Tehran briefly detained for ‘inciting & directing’ anti-govt protesters outside Amirkabir University

 11 Jan, 2020 21:07 / Updated 2 hours ago

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British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, was briefly detained outside of Amirkabir University in Tehran over his alleged role in ‘inciting and directing’ anti-government protesters, Tasnim news agency reports.

The diplomat was among a group of people detained for seeking to “to organize, instigate and direct some radical and destructive actions,” according to the Tehran-based news agency. He was released several hours later, but will reportedly be summoned on Sunday for further questioning. 

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the incident with the British diplomat a “flagrant violation of international law,” insisting that Macaire was detained without any "grounds or explanation.” Tehran has yet to issue any official comments. 

ALSO ON RT.COMProtests, vigils at Iran universities after Tehran admits it shot Ukrainian plane down

Hundreds of people flocked to universities in Iran earlier on Saturday, for vigils and protests, after Tehran admitted to accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian plane with 176 on board, many of whom were Iranian students.

While many were bringing flowers and lighting candles, some groups chanted anti-government slogans and carried banners saying that “apologies and resignations” wasn’t enough and demanding “prosecutions and constitutional changes.”

Hadi Nili

✔@HadiNili

within hours after IRGC admitting their “error” in shooting down the commercial plane #PS752, 100s showed up in protest, calling for justice: “there should be a trial, resignations are not enough”

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7:42 PM - Jan 11, 2020

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The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces admitted that Flight 752 was shot down on Wednesday due to human error, on the day that Tehran was responding to the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. 

Offering his condolences to the victims’ families, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apologized for the "disastrous mistake" on behalf of Iran, fully acknowledging that the tragedy was caused by the erroneous actions of his country’s military.

ALSO ON RT.COM‘I wish I was dead’: Senior IRGC commander accepts responsibility for downing Ukrainian jet, says it was mistaken for missile

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