Saudi consulate in Iran reportedly set on fire by protesters

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned Iran’s envoy to the kingdom to protest the critical Iranian reaction to the sheikh’s execution, saying it represented “blatant interference” in its internal affairs.

Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran early on Sunday morning as Shi’ite Muslim Iran reacted with fury to Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric.

Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others, including three other Shiite dissidents and a number of al-Qaida militants. The executions took place in the capital, Riyadh, and 12 other cities and towns, the Interior Ministry statement said. Most were Sunnis accused of participating in al-Qaeda attacks in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia says the executed prisoners were all convicted of terrorism charges.

To counter Arab Spring rumblings that threatened to spill into eastern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom sent troops in 2011 to crush Shiite protests demanding more political powers from the Sunni-led, fraternal monarchy of Bahrain.

The widening protests, along with Saudi Arabia’s defiant move to carry out Nimr’s October 2014 death sentence in the face of worldwide condemnation, highlight increasing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that have fueled civil conflict throughout the region. “In this context, we reiterate the need for leaders throughout the region to redouble efforts aimed at de-escalating regional tensions”.

After the executions, Islamic State urged its supporters to attack Saudi soldiers and police in revenge, in a message on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service used by the group’s backers, the SITE monitoring group reported.

But Saudi Arabia’s Western allies, many of whom supply it with arms, are growing concerned about its new assertiveness in the region and at home.

Armoured vehicles have been seen entering Qatif, with resistance groups in the area calling for people to join the protests against the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr, who had much popular support in the Shia community.

The simultaneous execution of 47 people – 45 Saudis, one Egytian and a man from Chad – was the biggest mass execution for security offences in Saudi Arabia since the 1980 killing of 63 jihadist rebels who seized Mecca’s Grand Mosque in 1979.

Most of those executed were convicted of leading or carrying out a series of al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia after 2003, but they also included some members of the Shi’ite minority convicted of attacks on police during protests from 2011-13.

An Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq has condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent opposition Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr and called on Baghdad to reconsider the re-opening of the Saudi embassy.

Al-Nimr never denied the political charges against him, but maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence.