Khamenei condemns embassy riot, lauds sailors’ capture

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is publicly condemning for the first time the January 2 attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran as “a very bad and wrong incident.”

“Like the British embassy attack before it, this was against the country (Iran) and Islam, and I didn’t like it,” he says.

Britain’s embassy in Tehran was stormed and ransacked by a mob in 2011.

The arson attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy — for which local media reports say as many as 140 people have been arrested — led to Riyadh quickly severing diplomatic ties with Tehran.

The incident occurred late at night after Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric and activist Nimr al-Nimr, a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in the eastern province, for crimes against the kingdom.

Khamenei and Iranian officials lambasted Saudi Arabia over the killing.

Khamenei also spoke for the first time Wednesday about the brief detention by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ naval force of 10 US Navy personnel who strayed into Iranian waters in the Gulf.

“This move by our dear youth… against the enemies’ aggression in our waters, they showed power,” Khamenei says.

“I didn’t have an opportunity to thank them. I really thank them. It was a very appropriate action,” he adds.

— AFP