President calls for punishment of Saudi Embassy attackers

‘Those behind this clear offence should be punished in order to prevent such actions to happen again in the future,’ he added.

The president called the attack on Saudi Embassy, ‘an attack against the country’s security and the system’s authority’.

Rouhani vowed on Sunday to bring perpetrators of the overnight attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran to justice.

An outraged group of people stormed the Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashad late Saturday after the Saudi regime executed prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr for alleged terror offenses.

‘I request Iran’s Interior Minister – with the cooperation of Judiciary and Intelligence Ministry – to identify the attackers and send them to judicial system so justice can be administered,’ Rouhani had said on Twitter.

The Iranian president condemned the killing of Sheikh al-Nimr, warning it would only exacerbate terrorism in the region, but urged Iranians to refrain from retaliation.

‘The Iranian people should not allow this to become an excuse for rogue individuals and groups to commit illegal acts and damage Iran’s image,’ he stressed.

Sheikh al-Nimr was an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy. He rose to prominence during the 2011 anti-government protests in the Saudi kingdom, where the Shia population says they are being discriminated against.