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| Iran’s Supreme Leader Condemns Mob Attack on Saudi Embassy | Iran’s Supreme Leader Condemns Mob Attack on Saudi Embassy |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| TEHRAN — Iran’s highest leader strongly denounced on Wednesday a mob attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran this month, saying the event was “very bad” and “detrimental to the country and Islam.” | |
| The embassy attack followed the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia, and it seemingly played into the Saudis’ hands by shifting the focus of global outrage to Shiite Iran from the Sunni kingdom. The attack led Saudi Arabia and several of its allies to cut ties with Iran. | The embassy attack followed the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia, and it seemingly played into the Saudis’ hands by shifting the focus of global outrage to Shiite Iran from the Sunni kingdom. The attack led Saudi Arabia and several of its allies to cut ties with Iran. |
| Analysts said the comments from the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could be tied to a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, where the embassy attack is high on the agenda. | |
| Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was even more critical of the attack. “This was an act that we were not proud of,” Mr. Zarif told an audience on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum. “It was an act against our security, our sovereignty, and we are prosecuting the people who committed that horrendous act.” | Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was even more critical of the attack. “This was an act that we were not proud of,” Mr. Zarif told an audience on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum. “It was an act against our security, our sovereignty, and we are prosecuting the people who committed that horrendous act.” |
| As he has in the past, Mr. Zarif said Iran was eager to work with its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, to resolve regional issues, particularly the war in Syria. “I think our Saudi neighbors need to realize that confrontation is in the interest of nobody,” he said. “Iran is there to work with you. Iran does not want to exclude anyone from the region. There is no need to engage in a confrontation.” | As he has in the past, Mr. Zarif said Iran was eager to work with its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, to resolve regional issues, particularly the war in Syria. “I think our Saudi neighbors need to realize that confrontation is in the interest of nobody,” he said. “Iran is there to work with you. Iran does not want to exclude anyone from the region. There is no need to engage in a confrontation.” |
| Despite Mr. Zarif’s conciliatory language, Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a bitter sectarian proxy war in Syria, with Tehran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Riyadh propping up the rebel forces opposing him. | Despite Mr. Zarif’s conciliatory language, Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a bitter sectarian proxy war in Syria, with Tehran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Riyadh propping up the rebel forces opposing him. |
| In remarks to election officials that were published on his website, Khamenei.ir, Ayatollah Khamenei also weighed in on a dispute that has the potential to shape Iran’s political course for the next several years. He voiced strong support for a 12-member vetting committee that is said to have disqualified nearly all reformist candidates in coming elections for the Majlis, or Parliament, and for the Assembly of Experts, a council that in the future will elect his successor. | In remarks to election officials that were published on his website, Khamenei.ir, Ayatollah Khamenei also weighed in on a dispute that has the potential to shape Iran’s political course for the next several years. He voiced strong support for a 12-member vetting committee that is said to have disqualified nearly all reformist candidates in coming elections for the Majlis, or Parliament, and for the Assembly of Experts, a council that in the future will elect his successor. |
| The vetting committee, the Guardian Council, which has been severely criticized by the reform camp, has not publicly explained its actions. In his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei said that mistakes could be made but that they “don’t justify attacks on legal entities.” If upheld, the bar on reformist candidates would mean that President Hassan Rouhani, who calls himself a moderate, will in all likelihood confront a hostile Parliament if he tries to introduce measures that he has promised to expand personal freedoms. | The vetting committee, the Guardian Council, which has been severely criticized by the reform camp, has not publicly explained its actions. In his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei said that mistakes could be made but that they “don’t justify attacks on legal entities.” If upheld, the bar on reformist candidates would mean that President Hassan Rouhani, who calls himself a moderate, will in all likelihood confront a hostile Parliament if he tries to introduce measures that he has promised to expand personal freedoms. |
| Ayatollah Khamenei went even further, making it clear that the reformists faced an uphill battle to exert any influence in the immediate future. | |
| “I have said that even those who are against the establishment should take part in the election,” he said. “I did not, however, mean that those who are against the establishment must be allowed to find their way into the Majlis. You do not find any country in the world where people who are against the system are allowed into any decision-making bodies.” | “I have said that even those who are against the establishment should take part in the election,” he said. “I did not, however, mean that those who are against the establishment must be allowed to find their way into the Majlis. You do not find any country in the world where people who are against the system are allowed into any decision-making bodies.” |
| It is an article of faith among conservatives that the reformists object to clerical rule and have a secret agenda of changing the basic nature of the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khamenei has been preaching a hard line since the signing of a nuclear agreement with the United States and other nations in July, warning against any softening in Iran’s anti-Western stance, and he has doubled down since the deal went into effect last weekend. | |
| The ayatollah complimented the actions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, which detained 10 United States Navy sailors this month after they entered Iran’s waters not far from one of its naval bases. | |
| “What the I.R.G.C. youth did in the Persian Gulf was absolutely the right thing to do, though I have not had the time to thank them yet,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Our politicians must act in the same way. Detect the line through which they are invading and stop it with strength.” | “What the I.R.G.C. youth did in the Persian Gulf was absolutely the right thing to do, though I have not had the time to thank them yet,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Our politicians must act in the same way. Detect the line through which they are invading and stop it with strength.” |
| On Monday, the Iranian police said they had arrested more than 150 people in connection with the Saudi Embassy attacks, which left the building in flames. While deploring the incident, Ayatollah Khamenei warned government officials not to “attack the devoted, revolutionary and Hezbollahi youth, merely because of events like those at the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Britain.” | On Monday, the Iranian police said they had arrested more than 150 people in connection with the Saudi Embassy attacks, which left the building in flames. While deploring the incident, Ayatollah Khamenei warned government officials not to “attack the devoted, revolutionary and Hezbollahi youth, merely because of events like those at the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Britain.” |
| In 2011, crowds entered the British Embassy in Tehran, leading to the severing of ties. Ayatollah Khamenei later denounced that assault as well, and ties were restored last year. | In 2011, crowds entered the British Embassy in Tehran, leading to the severing of ties. Ayatollah Khamenei later denounced that assault as well, and ties were restored last year. |