Iranian authorities arrested Kerd Meehan amid allegations that he led the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran soon after the incident, but was released in October last year.

Several news outlets in Iran are reporting that the main instigator behind the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s embassy and consulate in Iran on January 2016 has been named as a campaign manager for one of the presidential election candidates.

Eshaq Jahangiri, first vice-president of Iran, confirmed Hassan Kerd Meehan, a hardline preacher and extremist cleric, is currently working as a campaign manager for Tehran mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, one of the front-runners of the upcoming presidential elections.

Iranian authorities arrested Kerd Meehan amid allegations that he led the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran soon after the incident, but was released in October last year.

Jahangiri confirmed the report during the first ever live televised presidential debate when asked who he considered were responsible for the attacks on the Saudi missions last January.

“The Saudi Embassy’s attackers are working in one of the candidate’s election campaigns as you know. We also know very well as who financed the groups that attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran,” Jahangiri said.

“Those same extremists are responsible for driving away 700,000 Saudi Shiite tourists to Iran after diplomatic relations between the two countries were cut off because of the attack,” Jahangiri added.

It is claimed Kerd Meehan, who is also the director of religious institutions in Tehran and Karaj, was involved in the attack that saw angry crowds set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad using Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs.

Smoke rises from Saudi Arabia’s embassy during a demonstration in Tehran January 2, 2016.