Iran to Spare No Effort in Prosecuting Attackers of Saudi Embassy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the country will duly prosecute those responsible for a recent attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
In his Monday letter, Khoshroo expressed regret that a number of protesters recently entered and incurred damages on the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran despite extensive efforts by the law enforcement forces.
Based on its commitment to international conventions on diplomatic ties, Tehran will spare no effort in arresting and prosecuting all perpetrators in the recent incident, Khoshroo stressed.
He also reassured that Iran "will take necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future."
In similar remarks, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also criticized the angry protests, saying Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic premises in Iran should be protected.
He further called on the Interior Ministry to cooperate with the Judiciary and the Intelligence Ministry to identify perpetrators of Saturday night’s protests at the Saudi embassy and consulate and bring them to justice.
The reactions came after furious demonstrators in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad on Sunday stormed Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic buildings in protest at the Al Saud’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Iranian officials criticized the embassy attack and police arrested several individuals involved.
But the Saudi foreign ministry announced on Sunday it was cutting diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic following the angry protests in Iran.
The protests came after on Saturday, Saudi Arabia executed the prominent cleric, among dozens of others. The execution ignited widespread international condemnation, from both political and religious figures.
The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. The bodies were then hanged from gibbets in the most severe form of punishment available in the kingdom's law.
Sheikh Nimr had been detained in July 2012 on charges of delivering anti-regime speeches and defending political prisoners.
