Interior Minister: The Hypothesis of 'Hidden Hands' in the Attack on the Saudi Embassy is Possible

Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's Interior Minister, stated that there is an analysis suggesting that 'hidden hands' orchestrated the attack on Saudi diplomatic sites in Iran to 'relieve Saudi Arabia from public pressure', adding that the government is pursuing this hypothesis 'seriously'. According to the IRNA news agency, the Interior Minister, who was in Damascus for discussions with senior Syrian officials, made this statement on Monday, January 21. In recent weeks, the execution of a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia and the subsequent mass attack on Saudi diplomatic sites in Iran have challenged the relations between the two countries. Recently, some Friday prayer leaders in Iran have suggested that the Saudis themselves were behind the attack on their embassy in Tehran. Rahmani Fazli considered these speculations plausible. He clarified: 'There is an analysis that after the illegal and un-Islamic execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabia faced a heavy backlash from the Islamic world, and based on this, the embassy incident might not be unrelated to hidden hands to relieve Saudi Arabia from public pressure.' Rahmani Fazli emphasized: 'This hypothesis is under investigation, and if we conclude from documents, evidence, and interrogation results of detainees that foreign-supported hidden hands played a role in this incident, we will certainly announce it.' He further remarked that 'it is strange for us that Saudi Arabia, which has had connections and involvement in the attack on the Iranian embassy in Lebanon, Yemen, and Pakistan, and did not refrain from providing any assistance to Saddam during the eight-year war against Iran, how they could react to an emotional and impulsive act by severing diplomatic relations and taking other harsh actions. This compels us to seriously pursue the hypothesis of hidden hands in the incident at their embassy in Tehran.' He stressed: 'The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has tasked a committee led by the Interior Ministry to investigate this incident and identify and punish the possible perpetrators and organizers.' On Tuesday, January 22, Avooz Heydarpoor, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, also raised similar arguments, suggesting the possibility that 'the attackers on the Saudi embassy were provoked by intelligence agencies' and called on the judiciary and intelligence organizations to 'thoroughly investigate this issue.' Dozens of individuals known as 'plainclothes' and protesters against the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashhad on Saturday, January 12, vandalizing the buildings and looting their property. Initially, Iranian security officials introduced the attackers as 'self-directed agents' and later stated that these individuals 'were not Hezbollah forces.' Mohammad Imami Kashani, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, condemned the attack on the Saudi embassy during the Friday prayer on January 18, stating that this act was 'led by a group behind the scenes that were enemies themselves, wanting to throw the ball into our court and raise their hands to sever relations, but they also used foolish individuals.' In Mashhad, Ahmad Alam al-Huda, the Friday prayer leader of the city, deemed the attacks on embassies as 'not permissible', but said that 'simultaneously with the execution of Sheikh Nimr and the escalation of public protests, with the fire that the Saudis ignited within their embassy, they sought to create a pretext to sever relations with Iran.'