Syria’s opposition urges all Arab states to cut Iran ties

The authority said that following the kingdom’s decision to cut diplomatic relations, it had informed all airlines operating in Saudi Arabia it was “suspending and preventing all their flights to and from Iran”, according to a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

That followed an attack by angry Iranian demonstrators on Saudi missions in Iran on Sunday, they day after the kingdom executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr. Bahrain, which expelled its own Iranian diplomats after accusing Tehran of supporting terrorist groups within its territory in October, said that Saturday’s attack “confirms a determination to spread devastation and destruction, and provoke unrest and strife in the region by providing protection and support for terrorists and extremists and the smuggling of weapons and explosives for use by its affiliated terrorist cells”. He was convicted of terrorism charges but denied advocating violence.

Protesters carrying posters of Nimr chanted “Damned, damned be Al Saud!” in reference to the Saudi Royal family.

“If the Saudi government really wants to prove itself on the worldwide stage, it must stop torturing and executing protesters, and commit to fair, transparent trials”.

Bahraini officials have blamed Iran for training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. “It certainly is going to be even more hard to get everybody back around the table if you have the Saudis and the Iranians trading public barbs and public expressions of antagonism between the two countries”, Earnest said.

Syria’s political opposition in exile urged all Arab countries on Monday to sever diplomatic ties with Iran after Saudi Arabia, a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition, cut relations with Tehran.

Jubeir, a former ambassador to Washington where the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2011 said he had been the target of an Iranian assassination plot, said the break in ties was a response to older problems as well as the embassy storming.

The move could affect the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Jubeir also said that all Iranian diplomats must leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.

“We hope the relevant parties can maintain calm and restraint, properly resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability”, she said.

When Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991, Iran stopped its pilgrims from attending the hajj. RIA Novosti did not say whether Moscow had made the mediation proposal to either side.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Dhaka past year in September to brief leaders here about the nuclear deal.

“Saudi Arabia, which thrives on tensions, has used this incident as an excuse to fuel the tensions”, foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in televised remarks.

Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned the foreign ministers of the two countries in this regard while the White House in a public statement called both Iran and Saudi Arabia to take steps to de-escalate the situation.

“And specifically on Saudi Arabia let me be clear – we condemn and do not support the death penalty in any circumstances and that includes Saudi Arabia”. “That’s how you really attack ISIS”, Sennott said.