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[h=4]Iran: 40 arrested for attack on Saudi embassy[/h]Protesters<span style="color: Red;">*</span>angered by the execution of a top<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Shiite cleric<span style="color: Red;">*</span>overrun Saudi embassy in Tehran.
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Iran's supreme leader called Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr a "huge crime."
Video provided by AFP Newslook
Iranians protest outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Jan. 3, 2016.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Iran's supreme leader warned Sunday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of "divine revenge" against Saudi leaders for the execution of a beloved Shiite cleric<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who rose to prominence as a voice for free Saudi elections during the Arab Spring protests.
Sheik<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Nimr<span style="color: Red;">*</span>al-Nimr was among 47 people executed by the Saudi government Saturday. News of his death set off an outcry across much of the Muslim world, with angry protesters in Tehran setting fires and destroying documents at the Saudi embassy. Iranian security forces swept in and restored order Sunday, Iran's ISNA news agency said.
“So far, some 40 individuals who were involved in entering the building were identified and arrested," <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tehran prosecutor Abbas<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jafari-Dowlatabadi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said. "Research is underway to identify other people who played a role in the incident.”
Iranian leaders asked that protesters gather at the public square rather than<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"diplomatic sites,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ISNA reported.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called on Tehran to protect the Saudi embassy and urged both nations to avoid aggravating tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, the Associated Press reported.
USA TODAY
Iranian protesters overrun Saudi embassy, set fires
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saudi Press Agency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>confirmed the executions of 47 "terrorists." Most were Sunnis linked to al-Qaeda attacks in the Sunni-dominated kingdom, although al-Nimr was among four Shiites on the list.
Ali bin Suleiman Al-Obaid, the Saudi vice general president for Prophet's Holy Mosque Affairs, defended<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the "implementation of sharia<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rulings," saying those executed "disturbed the security of the nation, shed the infallible blood, sought amok, terrorized innocent people, destroyed properties, and incited others like them on murder and sabotage."
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that "divine revenge will seize oppressors" responsible for "the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>martyrdom and unfair bloodshed" of al-Nimr.
A Saudi Foreign Ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency accused Tehran of "blind sectarianism," saying the Shiite nation was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>defending terrorists and thus a "partner in their crimes in the entire region."
In Tehran, protesters scaled a chain-link fence protecting the embassy, took down the Saudi flag and set fires inside, according to tweets from journalist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sobhan Hassanvand<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at the privately owned Shargh newspaper. But the angry mob didn't destroy the flag because it is emblazoned with the Muslim statement of faith that Shiites and Sunnis share:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet."
"Huge crowd of people rushed toward the entrance gate of the building passing through resisting police forces and managed to break the gate,” according to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sadra Saeidian of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mehr News.
Also in Iran, demonstrators attacked a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saudi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>consulate in the city of Mashhad with parts of the building set on fire, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported, citing Persian-media outlet Tabnak.
Protesters also gathered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in al-Mimr's hometown of al-Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, in Bahrain, in Lebanon and even in India, Al-Jazeera reported.
Iraqi Prime Minister haider Al-Abadi said he was "shocked and saddened" by Nimr's death. "Peaceful opposition is a fundamental right. Repression does not last," he tweeted.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Shiite militia in Lebanon,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said al-Nimr's execution would<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"plague the Al Saud until the Day of Resurrection," the BBC reported.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy head of the Saudi mission in Tehran to protest the execution.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian accused<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saudi Arabia of triggering<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a new conflict in the region despite failing to "fulfill<span style="color: Red;">*</span>its responsibility" in the wake of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>last September’s Mina disaster which more than 2,000 pilgrims who were in Saudia Arabia for the Hajj, ISNA reported.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a statement Sunday that Saudi Arabia's "medieval act of savagery" will lead to the "downfall" of the monarchy.
Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012. He was critical of the Saudi government and but denied ever advocating violence.
The mass executions — by beheading<span style="color: Red;">*</span>or shooting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"only further stains Saudi Arabia's troubling human rights record," said Sarah Leah, Middle East director for the U.S.-based non-profit Human Rights Watch.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “deeply dismayed” over the Saudi Arabia executions, including that of Al-Nimr, 56, according to a UN statement.
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement about<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the executions and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>al-Nimr.
"We are particularly concerned that the execution of prominent Shia cleric and political activist Nimr al-Nimr risks exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be reduced," the statement said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>It added that the U.S. has issues with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the legal process in Saudi Arabia and that the government there needs to respect human rights and conduct transparent judicial proceedings.
Amnesty International, another human rights organization,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>decried the death sentences<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for al-Nimr and other Shiite activists in November, saying, "Saudi Arabian authorities are using the guise of counterterrorism to settle political scores."
Contributing: Associated Press
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