Riyadh – Saudi Arabia accused Iran on Monday of persistently stalling the resumption of investigations into the 2016 attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.

“The Iranian authorities have consistently stalled and refused to resume investigations of the attacks, even though they were perpetrated a year-and-a-half ago,” a statement quoting an official source at the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

The source also accused Tehran of resorting to blackmail to gain diplomatic privileges, despite the severing of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

“Iranian authorities have restored to fraudulent tactics, including its rejecting that a Saudi team enter Iran as part of the Iranian team investigating the attacks in Tehran and Mashhad,” it stressed, adding that Iran had initially approved the entry of the team.

According to the source, the Saudi team was delegated to work alongside the Iranian authorities to inspect the two Saudi facilities and finalize the processes related to them.

“Such acts reflect Iran’s behavior and policy, its disrespect of international laws and conventions, and violation of the inviolability of the diplomatic mission premises, tactics it had used for more than 38 years,” it said.

The sources stressed that in light of the aforementioned particulars, Saudi Arabia sees it vital to present these facts to international organizations and take all necessary measures in order to safeguard its diplomatic rights in line with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and relevant provisions of international law.

In January of last year, Iranian protestors attacked Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad prompting Riyadh to cut diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic.