Iranian diplomatic mission to Saudi Arabia arrived in Tehran on Wednesday after the kingdom severed all ties with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian diplomatic mission to Saudi Arabia arrived in Tehran on Wednesday after the kingdom severed all ties with the Islamic Republic.

Iran's official state broadcaster IRIB said the diplomats have arrived in Tehran, showing pictures of their plane after it landed at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport.

It said the plane carried 54 Iranian diplomats and their families, who were welcomed by a deputy foreign minister.

Saudi diplomats in Iran returned to the kingdom on Tuesday, Saudi media reported.

Riyadh severed diplomatic ties and air links with Tehran after angry crowds set fire to its embassy in the Iranian capital and its consulate in Mashhad following the execution of Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

The Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Hussein Sadeghi condemned the popular reaction and was quoted on state television as saying that anger at Nimr's execution was natural but the response was not.

"Although protest is a civil right, an assault on an embassy and infringing commitments can damage the image of the Islamic Republic," he said.

"This move was unacceptable and wrong and we should learn a lesson so that, while preserving the right to protest, such an act should not happen," he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif urged the Saudi on Wednesday to stop fueling tensions in the region, calling on all parties to become united in the face of extremism, terrorism, sectarianism, and tribalism.