After protesters who were angered at the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran, setting fire to it, a number of Iranian officials have condemned the attack. Many Iranian media outlets also questioned the motives of the embassy attackers, who have once again caused a diplomatic crisis between Iran and a foreign country.

Iranian officials condemned the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, who had advocated for more rights of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minorities. However, many were quick to also condemn the attack on the Saudi Embassy.

President Hassan Rouhani referred to the embassy attackers as “extremists,” saying that Iran had a legal and religious duty to protect both the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad. He called their actions “unjustifiable” and asked the judiciary and intelligence ministry to apprehend the attackers so that “this type of ugly act will be put to an end forever.” More than 40 of the attackers have already been arrested.

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani condemned the attack, saying that it increases regional tensions and makes finding paths to solutions more difficult. Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran’s judiciary, said that the attack violates Iran’s legal commitments and diminishes attention on the larger issue of Nimr’s execution. Hamid Baeidinejad, director general for political affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that there was no doubt that the attack on the embassy was a mistake.