News / Politics

Iran president urges probe into Saudi missions attack

Wednesday, 06 January 2016 2:31 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 06 January 2016 2:32 PM ]

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for an urgent investigation into the recent assaults on Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions, saying the perpetrators must be “brought to justice."

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Sunday following demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters censuring the Al Saud family for the killing of the top Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Some people mounted the walls of the consulate in Mashhad while incendiary devices were hurled at the embassy in Tehran. Some 50 people were detained over the transgression.

In a letter to Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani on Wednesday, President Rouhani denounced the attacks as a breach of the Islamic Republic’s security.

He said that the Judiciary must prosecute those involved in this "evidenced offense" in a bid to bring a halt to such attempts against the standing of the Islamic Republic's establishment.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Rouhani said that Riyadh move to sever diplomatic relations with Tehran was aimed at covering up the failure of its regional policies and undermining peace in the region.

He further denounced as “unjust” the killing of Sheikh Nimr, saying the top Shia cleric was imprisoned, convicted and executed due to his criticism of the Saudi government.

Sheikh Nimr was shot by Saudi police and arrested in 2012 in Qatif in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, which was the scene of peaceful anti-regime demonstrations at the time.

He had been charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security. He had rejected all the charges as baseless.

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