Sentences upheld for Saudi embassy attackers in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that an appeals court has approved the jail sentences for 10 people charged with attacking Saudi diplomatic missions.

The Sunday report says that a lawyer associated with the case said the prison sentences for the 10 attackers, ranging from three to six months each, was approved by the appeals court.

The report’s unnamed attorney also noted that four of the defendants were clerics and therefore would have to appear before the Special Clerical Court.

The trial began in July 2016.

In January 2016, protesters in Iran, angered by the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by the Saudi government, ransacked and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and also attacked a Saudi consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad.