Iranian cleric behind attack on Saudi embassy appointed advisor to Judo Federation

An Iranian cleric who allegedly masterminded an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran in 2016 has been appointed as a committee chair in Iran’s Judo Federation.

Iranian pro-regime protesters attacked and set on fire the Saudi embassy in Tehran in January 2016 in response to Riyadh’s execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran following the attacks on its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad.

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Hassan Kordmihan, the main defendant in the attack on the Saudi embassy, has been appointed as the head of the Iranian Judo Federation’s cultural committee and an advisor to the federation’s president, according to the federation’s website.

Kordmihan, who was said to have planned and led the attack on the Saudi embassy, was arrested and tried in a special clerical court, but it was never disclosed what verdict the court issued against him.

Clerics in Iran are tried by the Special Clerical Court which is separate from the country’s judiciary and mostly holds its trials behind closed doors.

Attacks on foreign embassies have occurred throughout the Islamic Republic’s 41-year history, often leading to diplomatic crises. Pro-regime protesters attacked the US embassy in 1979, the Kuwaiti mission in 1987, Saudi Arabia in 1988, Denmark in 2006, and Britain in 2011.

Last year, the International Judo Federation suspended Iran from international competition for pressuring one of its fighters to drop out of the world judo championships to avoid having to face an Israeli opponent.

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