Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday thanked the Revolutionary Guards for briefly detaining US sailors last week, but condemned the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran as an action that damaged the country. Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran on January 2 after Saudi Arabia executed a Shi'ite Muslim cleric. This prompted Riyadh to sever relations with Tehran, which in turn cut all commercial ties with Riyadh, and banned pilgrims from travelling to Mecca.
"Attacking the Saudi embassy (in Tehran) was really bad and harmed Iran and Islam, but this should not be an excuse to criticise our devout young people," Khamenei was quoted as saying on his website. "I didn't have the opportunity to thank the young soldiers in the Revolutionary Guards. What they did in the Persian Gulf was right," Khamenei also said. Ten US sailors, who were aboard two patrol craft, were detained for 15 hours by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on January 12 when they inadvertently entered Iranian territorial waters. "The politician should do the same and stop the enemies with full power if they cross the line anywhere," Khamenei said.
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