Confirmation of the Primary Court's Ruling on 10 Defendants in the Attack on the Saudi Embassy

The defense attorney for 10 individuals who attacked the Saudi Arabian embassy announced that the appellate court has upheld the initial court's ruling, sentencing five of the attackers to six months and the other five to three months in prison. Mustafa Shabani announced on Sunday, July 29, that Branch 53 of the Tehran Court of Appeals confirmed the initial ruling regarding the 10 attackers. According to Mr. Shabani, in the primary court's verdict, five defendants were sentenced to three months in prison and five others to six months. Following the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad in January 2016, which led to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, several individuals, including a cleric named Hassan Kordmihan, were arrested, and the Tehran prosecutor's office announced that indictments had been issued for 22 individuals in this case. The trial of a group of these attackers took place on July 18 and 19, 2016, in Branch 1060 of the Government Employees Judicial Complex, where the judge acquitted all attackers of the charge of 'deliberate destruction of the Saudi embassy.' During the hearings, some defendants identified themselves as 'Hezbollah forces,' while others stated they had confronted protesters during the 2009 presidential election protests. Charges against the attackers included 'participation in the deliberate destruction of Saudi embassy property' or 'disturbing public order through illegal gathering and tumult.' Under Iranian law, the punishment for 'disturbing public order' ranges from three months to one year in prison and up to 74 lashes. For the destruction of public property and individuals' property, Iranian laws also prescribe prison sentences and fines. The issuance of these sentences comes as officials from Hassan Rouhani's government accused the attackers of 'treason' and 'actions against national security.' Meanwhile, some protesters from the 2009 presidential election were sentenced to two years in prison for writing slogans on the wall of the Russian embassy and chanting against that country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, strongly criticized the labeling of 'Hezbollah individuals' as extremists after the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions, stating that 'the occurrence of an event like the Saudi and British embassies should not be used as an excuse to attack believing youth.' Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, stated that 'anger over Saudi actions' could lead to a reduction in the attackers' sentences. The issue of the attack on the Saudi embassy was also raised during the 2017 presidential election debates, where Eshaq Jahangiri and Hassan Rouhani implicitly suggested that the attackers were members of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's campaign in the 2013 presidential election. Their reference was to Hassan Kordmihan, who is mentioned in Iranian media as one of the main organizers of the attack on the Saudi embassy, with photos of his presence in Qalibaf's campaign office during the 2013 presidential election being published. Besides Hassan Kordmihan, three other clerics were also implicated in this incident, whose cases are being reviewed in the Special Clerical Court, with no report on their rulings published. In the years following the 1979 revolution, forces known as Hezbollah attacked foreign embassies in Tehran on two other occasions, both resulting in the severance of diplomatic relations. In November 1979, students known as 'followers of the line of Imam' seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took its staff hostage, leading to the severance of diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran. In 2011, a group of 'Basij students' attacked the British embassy in Tehran, which also resulted in the severance of relations between Iran and Britain. The British embassy in Tehran was reopened in 2015. In this context, Iran announced an 'initial agreement with Saudi Arabia' for visits to embassies.