Smoke rises as Iranian protesters set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran, on Sunday.

The attacks on the Saudi mission in Iran were organized, with the aid of that country’s government, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Osama Nugali, head of the media department at the ministry, said on Sunday night in a briefing to reporters, that the embassy in Tehran received several telephone calls on Saturday morning with callers threatening to kill Saudi officials.

At about 2:20 p.m. a “violent mob” started to gather in front of the embassy, prompting the charge d’ affaires to immediately notify the Iranian Foreign Ministry, requesting protection. However, this was not heeded, said Nugali.

At 9:30 p.m. another crowd of demonstrators gathered in front of the embassy, hurling stones and incendiary bombs at the building. At about 2 a.m. on Sunday more people joined them and stormed the embassy, setting it alight and smashing furniture.

He said that calls from the charge d’affaires to the Iranian Foreign Ministry went unanswered, and when he was allowed into the building Sunday afternoon he found it completely trashed.

To make it worse the electricity was cut off at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday for an hour in the area where the homes of embassy staffers are located, he said.

In Mashhad, a violent mob went on the rampage at the consulate building at 11 a.m. on Saturday. In addition, a taxi forced its way across the security barrier of the consulate in an attempt to storm the main gate, without being prevented by the Iranian authorities, he said.

The attack was intensified at 4:30 p.m. when a mob of more than 2,000 people gathered in front of the consulate hurling stones and Molotov cocktails breaking glass windows in a failed bid to storm the building. No action was taken by the authorities, said Nugali.

Nugali said that the Iran ambassador was summoned and a protest note lodged. Moreover, the Kingdom notified the UN Security Council, the GCC, the Arab League and the OIC.

He said the Saudi diplomats were supposed to leave on an Emirates flight at 7:20 p.m. (Iranian time) but the authorities hindered their departure, and they were only able to leave on another flight at 10 p.m. on Sunday, he said. He said Iran has a history of attacks on diplomatic missions, including on the American Embassy in 1979 and on the British Embassy in 2011.

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