Canada decries mass execution in Saudi Arabia which killed 47, including cleric

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister announced on Saturday to cut diplomatic ties with Iran and asked all Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours, local media reported.

Tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensified on Sunday when Iran warned Saudi Arabia of “divine revenge” after the kingdom performed its largest mass execution in three and a half decades.

Demonstrators, massed at the embassy gates to protest against cleric Nimr al-Nimr’s execution, broke into the building, smashed furniture and started fires before being ejected by police.

But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia’s Sunni rulers.

Tehran had heavily criticised the Sunni-ruled kingdom, with Iran’s supreme leader saying Saudi politicians will face “divine vengeance” over the killing of Nimr al Nimr.

Meanwhile, protests against Saudi Arabia’s actions continue in Tehran.

By 4 p.m., some 400 protesters had gathered in front of the embassy despite a call by the government for them to protest at a square in central Tehran.

Khamenei’s Web site carried a picture of a Saudi executioner next to notorious Islamic State executioner “Jihadi John”, with the caption: “Any differences?”

In Tehran, furious protesters ransacked the Saudi embassy on Saturday after setting it alight.

Al-Jubeir announced the expulsion after Iranian protesters set the Saudi embassy on fire after the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a critic of the kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority. In al-Daih, west of the capital, Shiite protesters chanted against Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family, as well as against Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifa family.

Also, the leader of Lebanese Shia militant group Hizbollah strongly condemned Saudi Arabia.

He said Iran was required to protect foreign diplomatic institutions.

All of those executed, including Sheik al-Nimr, are Shiite Muslims.

Dion also expressed concerns over the intensifying sectarian tensions resulting from the execution, particularly after the ensuing violence and Iran and subsequent severing of diplomatic ties between the two nations. “Four, including Sheikh Nimr, were Shiites accused of participating in violent demonstrations in which demonstrators and police were killed”.