TEHRAN, January 14. /TASS/. Iran views the attendance of a protest rally by UK Ambassador to Tehran Rob Macaire as interference into the country’s domestic affairs, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement on Monday.

"The Iranian Foreign Ministry views the attendance of a rally [in Tehran] by the UK Ambassador as an overt interference into the domestic affairs of the country, which runs counter to diplomatic principles," the statement reads. "The ministry calls upon the UK Embassy to immediately stop any interference into internal affairs and [acts of] incitement."

"If such actions continue, the consequences will go beyond the summoning of the ambassador," the ministry said.

The Tasnim news agency reported on January 11 that Macaire was detained by Iranian law enforcement officers for participating in a protest and trying to steer a crowd that gathered outside the Amirkabir University of Technology. The diplomat was released several hours later. On January 12, the UK diplomat was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The diplomat denied taking part in the protest, saying that he only planned to pay tribute to victims of the Boeing 737 plane crash near Tehran and left the rally five minutes later.