Robert Macaire leaves Tehran

The UK's ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, is returning to London for talks following his arrest by the Tehran authorities.

However, the Foreign Office has said Macaire's visit "has been planned for quite a while" and insisted he intends to return to Tehran.

"It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here," the Independence cited a Foreign Office spokesperson as saying.

Macaire was arrested in Tehran on Saturday over his attendance at a vigil for the Ukrainian jet crash victims.