Iranian protesters hold portraits of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr as they confront riot police during a demonstration against his execution by Saudi authorities on Sunday, January 3, outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran, Iran. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters that Saudi Arabia is severing ties with Iran after an attack on the embassy.
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Tehran's police chief Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, center right, tries to disperse protesters in front of Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Tehran on January 3.
Vahid Salemi/AP
Iranian demonstrators burn representations of the U.S. and Israeli flags during a demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran on January 3.
Vahid Salemi/AP
Iranian security guards Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran while a group of demonstrators gathered to protest on January 3.
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Protesters set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, January 2, during a demonstration against the execution of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities. Nimr was a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in Saudi Arabia's east, an oil-rich region where the Shiite minority of an estimated 2 million people complains of marginalization.
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Smoke billows from the windows of the burning Saudi Embassy on January 2. A CNN producer in Tehran said some protesters made it inside the building, setting fire and ransacking some records.
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A firefighter sprays water on the flames on January 2 in Tehran, Iran, a Shiite-majority nation, issued a statement deploring the execution and warning that Saudi Arabia would pay a heavy price for its policies.
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Iranian protesters gather outside the Saudi Embassy in Tehranon January 2. Saudi Arabia said it executed "terrorists" and told Iran to stay out of its internal affairs.
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Several protesters were arrested, police officers at the embassy told CNN.
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There was some damage near the back of the embassy building, witnesses and a police officer said. None of the Saudi diplomatic staff was in the embassy at the time.