Rob Macaire

Robert Nigel Paul Macaire CMG (born 19 February 1966) is a British diplomat who served as UK's Ambassador to Iran from 2018 to 2021. Macaire has held a number of senior posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and prior to his Iran posting he was the Director of Political Risk in BG Group plc. Career Rob Macaire joined the Ministry of Defence in 1987, and worked on a number of issues including procurement policy and supporting Special Forces, before transferring to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1990. His first diplomatic posting was in Bucharest, Romania from 1991 to 1995. He returned to the UK to work on the Middle East, following which he was posted to Washington, as First Secretary Middle East and Counter Terrorism, from 1998 to 2002. This included dealing with the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2002 Macaire returned to London to head the Counter Terrorism Policy Department in the Foreign Office in the immediate post 9/11 period. He served as Political Counsellor in New Delhi, India from 2004 to 2006, during which time he led a team responding to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Phuket, Thailand. He returned to London as Director of Consular Services, responsible for all support to UK nationals abroad, including crisis response. In 2008 he was appointed British High Commissioner to Nairobi, Kenya, where he served until 2011. In Nairobi, he was involved among other things with Kenyans' efforts to fight corruption in their country, support for Kenya's new constitution in 2010, and was responsible for UK dealings with Somalia, including kidnap and hijack cases.