Saudi-Owned Broadcaster MBC Teases Postponed TV Series ‘Embassy 87’

Saudi-owned Middle East broadcaster MBC has unveiled plans to air a high-end TV sequence titled “Embassy 87” shot in 2022 – that it had beforehand seemingly shelved – about Saudi diplomats who had been held hostage in Iran.

MBC’s transfer to tease dropping “Embassy 87” on its Shahid streaming service is taken into account a direct impact of the US-Israeli struggle on Iran and its retaliatory strikes on the Gulf area that are inflicting a breakdown in Saudi-Iran diplomatic ties.

“Embassy 87” is directed by Britain’s Colin Teague (“Doctor Who”) who also helmed the hit Saudi sequence “Rashash” and the movie “Ambulance” that was Imax’s first Arabic feature movie release. 

The present’s logline on Shahid’s web site is: “1987. Tehran. A diplomat suddenly becomes a hostage in a political crisis. After a fatal Hajj incident, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard abducts a Saudi consul… and a larger plot unfolds. Inspired by a true story.”

“Not all wars are fought on the battlefield” says the present’s tagline.

In 1987 during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Islamic holy websites in Saudi Arabia, Iranians pilgrims clashed with Saudi riot police and some 400 people had been killed. In retaliation for the Mecca violence, Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in August 1987 and several other Saudi diplomats had been held hostage.

The “Embassy 87” sequence was shot in 2022 and is believed to have subsequently been shelved by MBC after Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic relations with Iran in 2023.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran return centuries since the Saudis comply with Sunni Islam and the Iranians are Shias. The basic distinction between these two branches of Islam lies wherein one is taken into account the rightful inheritor to the Prophet Mohammed, who spent a lot of his life close to Mecca.

MBC initially announced that the first episode of “The Embassy 87″ would be released today (Friday) but the show’s listing on the Shahid website now says “soon.” 

There was no touch upon Friday from MBC.