page_title: 2016 attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran
section_title: Iran
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran / Reactions / Iran
caption_attribution_description: English: Protest in Mashhad against execution of Nimr al-Nimr in front of Saudi consulate.
context_page_description: The 2016 attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran was a mob action on 2 January 2016 by protesters against the execution of a prominent Saudi Arabian Shi'a cleric. Mobs stormed the embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad and ransacked them. The embassy building was set on fire with Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs. During the attacks, the police arrived and dispersed protesters from the embassy premises and extinguished the fire.
  The attacks were later condemned by Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. On 24 January, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i announced that around 100 people involved in the attack are in custody by the authorities.
context_section_description: Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei condemned the attacks and known it as "a very bad and wrong incident". Also, he declared that: "like the British embassy attack before it, this was against the country (Iran) and Islam, and I didn't like it."
  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the attacks while at the same time he also condemned the execution of Nimr al-Nimr. He blamed the attacks on "extremist individuals". He has pledged to protect the security of foreign missions and prosecute those responsible for attacking Saudi diplomatic posts, in a series of messages posted on his Twitter account moments after the attack. On 6 January, President Rouhani has asked the Iranian judiciary to immediately prosecute the attackers invoked. He said by punishing the attackers and those who orchestrated this obvious offense, his government should put an end once and forever to such damage and insults to Iran's dignity and national security."
  The Iranian authorities have express regret over the attacks and arrested at least 40 individuals in connection to the attack.
  Five days later on January 7, 2016, Iran's foreign ministry made the claim that Saudi warplanes had "deliberately" targeted its embassy to Yemen in the city of Sana'a. Iran's report included claims that,"a number of the building's guards" had been injured as a result of the bombing. Despite this assertion San'aa residents and the Associated Press have reported that the embassy suffered no visible damage. Currently General Ahmad Asseri from the Saudi-led coalition is investigating Iran's allegations.
  On 24 January, Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i announced on state TV that they arrested around 100 people involved in the attack. Some of them were later released.
  As of the end of July, 2017, five of those tried were sentenced to six months in prison, while five others were handed down three-month sentences.
caption: Protest in Mashhad in front of Saudi consulate (3 January 2016)
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