海角大神

When hard-line Iranian demonstrators torched part of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran Sunday night to protest Saudi Arabia鈥檚 execution of a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, it wasn鈥檛 just the building that was damaged.

Up in smoke, too, went President Hassan Rouhani鈥檚 effort to mend ties with Saudi Arabia as part of a broader engagement with Gulf states and the West. On Monday Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Iran, and two of its Sunni Gulf allies and Sudan similarly cut or downgraded their ties.

Iran's Fars News Agency pithily asked if the Saudis wanted to follow the failed path of the US to pressure Iran, and how long it would take them to 鈥渦nderstand, like their ally America 鈥� that they will have to accept Iran鈥檚 regional role and presence.鈥�

The attack on the embassy and the cutting of ties has exacerbated an already tense confrontation across the Middle East between the rival Sunni and Shiite powers, reflected in bloody conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

For hard-liners who detest Mr. Rouhani and his bid to open up Iran, the attack on the embassy was a win-win: They gave Saudi Arabia a public bloody nose, while at the same time undermining their centrist president鈥檚 attempts to calm tensions with long-standing rivals.

But others bemoaned a shift in narrative that is negative and counterproductive for Iran 鈥撀爁rom the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric and 46 others, most of them linked to Al Qaeda, to the spectacle in Iran of another embassy sacking.

The torching fits a pattern evident since the 1979 Islamic revolution in which some factions in Iran are ready to make tactical gains against domestic opponents, regardless of the high cost to Iran鈥檚 national security or diplomatic interests.

Letter to UN chief voices regret

Rouhani blamed 鈥渆xtremists鈥� for the attack and said it was 鈥渦njustifiable,鈥� even as some hard-line media called for attacks on Saudi officials and even military bases.

鈥淲hat hard-liners saw was a fabulous way of discrediting Rouhani and making it look like 鈥榳e are in charge,鈥� 鈥� says Dina Esfandiary, at the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King's College London. 鈥淎nd remember that until the [late February] parliamentary elections, and perhaps even further, that鈥檚 the only thing that鈥檚 on their minds.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they thought for a second, 鈥極h, this is going to take attention away from the plight of the Shias,鈥� 鈥� says Ms. Esfandiary. 鈥淥bviously there are some among [hard-liners] who disagree, but I think sometimes we give Iran a little too much credit for thinking ahead and really planning what it鈥檚 going to do.鈥�

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that was made public Monday afternoon, Iran said it "expresses regret over the [embassy and consulate attacks] and will spare no efforts in arresting and prosecuting all those who brought them about." The letter also said that Iran "will take necessary measures" to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Conservatives divided

While there appeared to be near-universal anger in Iran and in Shiite communities across the Middle East over the killing of Mr. Al-Nimr 鈥撀燼n outspoken supporter of more rights for Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Shiite minority, who Saudi officials accused of 鈥渢errorist鈥� acts 鈥� the embassy attack revealed divisions among Iran鈥檚 conservative ranks.

Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that 鈥渄ivine revenge will seize Saudi politicians.鈥�

The editor of the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari 鈥� an official representative of Mr. Khamenei 鈥撀爓rote of his hope that Saudi princes who travel to the US and Europe 鈥渇or extravagance and pleasure-seeking will be targeted for the unjust blood of Ayatollah Nimr" and the civilians killed in Yemen and Syria and beyond.

And yet even the frequent Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami 鈥撀燼lways a hard-line stalwart at the pulpit 鈥� tried to dial back the anti-Saudi fervor, calling for street protests only and saying 鈥渨e don鈥檛 gain anything by attacking embassies and setting them ablaze.鈥�

Since militant students seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 there has been a tradition in Iran of targeting embassies, from nations as diverse as Saudi Arabia and Denmark to Britain, whose embassy was ransacked in 2011.

How attack could boomerang

Khamenei has set the tone in a series of speeches since September, in which he said the Islamic Republic鈥檚 strident anti-Americanism 鈥撀燾hants of 鈥淒eath to America鈥� and other pillars of the revolution 鈥撀爓ould not change, despite the landmark nuclear deal signed last July between Iran and six world powers.

Khamenei has repeatedly called on Iran鈥檚 power centers to beware of 鈥渟oft war鈥� and cultural 鈥渋nfiltration鈥� from the West, which he says is more dangerous than security issues. Many protesters linked Saudi Arabia to its close ally the United States.

At the same time, Rouhani has been engaged in fierce political battles at home, where hard-liners who opposed the popular nuclear deal have sought every means to prevent it from giving centrist candidates a bounce in elections next month.

In that context, however, the embassy attack could boomerang against the hard-liners.

鈥淔rom Rouhani鈥檚 perspective, I don鈥檛 think he comes out looking as bad as everybody else is making out, because he鈥檚 taken quite a strong line against the storming of the embassy,鈥� says analyst Esfandiary. 鈥淗e can turn around and say, 鈥榊ou see what I have to deal with? This is part of my everyday life.鈥� It seems that gets a little more credibility after this.鈥�