Jan 25, 2016

At a press conference Jan. 24, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, announced that 100 people have been arrested over the attack in early January on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran.

Mohseni-Ejei said that there were two groups of people who protested in front of the Saudi Embassy after the execution of Shiite activist Nimr al-Nimr. One group of approximately 200 people, who had no intention of committing crimes, consisted of individuals with grievances against Saudi’s foreign policy and responsibility in the hajj Mina stampede in September that killed 464 Iranians.

The other group, according to Mohseni-Ejei, consisted of suspects who entered the Saudi Embassy with the intention of setting it on fire or people that the “enemy had penetrated.” The term “penetrate” has become a popular phrase after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that enemy countries would attempt to politically, economically or culturally penetrate Iran's post-nuclear deal.

Mohseni-Ejei said that while the cases of the second group are being reviewed, “there is evidence that the enemy had a hand in this event.” He added that one cleric has been singled out for involvement in the case and for also issuing orders for the attack. Mohseni-Ejei described the cleric as someone who was kicked out of university 10 years ago and conducted his clerical training “not in person.”

According to Mohammad Reza Mohseni-Sani, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, the individual is Hassan Kordmihan, a mostly unknown but highly active cleric with deep connections.