UK ambassador to Iran Macaire was briefly detained during a protest in front of Amir Kabir University in downtown Tehran on Saturday when he was attending an illegal protest at the government’s handling of the aftermaths of a plane crash earlier this week.
“His measure has been awkward, unconventional, and unprofessional; no ambassador does such a thing,” Motahari told Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.
UK envoy has claimed that he had attended the gathering thinking that it was a memorial for those killed in the tragic Ukrainian plane incident and that he had tried to leave the area after hearing slogans but had been arrested, said the MP.
“It is not clear why he had participated in the gathering,” he said.
Condemning UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is Dominic Raab who had threatened Iran with imposing sanctions due to the arrest, Motahari highlighted that “England should not act as a claimant, rather it should apologize.”
Sporadic protests erupted in some Iranian cities after it was announced that Iranian air defenses have unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian airliner last week which claimed the lives of all 176 people on board.
“These protests and slogans are somewhat natural; after all, a major incident and a big mistake has happened,” Motahari said, noting that “people and students are seeking to voice their protests.”
He said that security forces should let protestors chant slogans “but if these gatherings continue and protestors start destroying public property, they should be dealt with. If the gatherings are organized in a manner to pursue overthrow, certainly no government will tolerate it.”
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