Iranian protesters storm Saudi embassy, foreign ministry calls for calm

Later images showed police in full riot gear guarding the premises as firefighters doused the building.

January 03, 2016 08:35 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:12 pm IST - DUBAI

Angry Iranian protesters stormed Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran in the early hours of Sunday, smashing furniture and starting fires before being removed by the police.

The protesters had gathered outside the embassy to protest against Saudi Arabia's execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent cleric from the kingdom’s Shia minority, on terrorism charges that Iran said were unjustified.

They then broke into the building and lit fires inside before being cleared by police, the ISNA news agency reported. Images shared on social media appeared to show protesters smashing furniture inside the embassy.

Later images showed police in full riot gear guarding the premises as firefighters doused the building. ISNA said Tehran's police chief was on the scene to restore calm.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari called for calm and said there should be no more demonstrations around Saudi diplomatic premises, the state news agency IRNA reported.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.