Iraq will mediate in Saudi/Iran row, says foreign minister

Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran in order to cover up the crime of beheading the religious leader.

Mohammed al-Nimr, the sheikh’s brother, said people planned to hold a funeral on Thursday for the cleric, although Saudi authorities already buried his corpses in an undisclosed cemetery.

Saudi Arabia’s execution of Nimr al-Nimr has angered Shi’ites across the Middle East and caused a major diplomatic row between mainly Shi’ite Iran and Saudi Arabia’s conservative Sunni monarchy.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran one day after the Saudi execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric and 46 others on terrorism charges.

The concerted campaign by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a long-time regional rival.

But it did not mention the event that set off the crisis Saudi Arabia’s execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a cleric and activist whose death sparked widespread protests among Shiites.

The deterioration of relations with Saudi Arabia “will have no impact on Iran’s national development”, Nobakht said, without elaborating.

“We have noticed that many countries of the global community have expressed similar concerns and positions”, Hua said.

“We still believe that violence is not the right approach”, he said.

However, several of the smaller Gulf Arab states have good working relationships with Iran, and two of them, Oman and Qatar, have yet to take any action at all, says the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut.

“If our partners in Iran and Saudi Arabia are ready and willing (to come), our initiative remains in force”.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) – Just a few days into the new year, the Middle East situation has taken a turn for the worse following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it had severed diplomatic ties with Iran. Russian Federation has been always interested in “mutual understanding between Shiites and Sunnis and the unity of the Muslims world”, the official added.

He said the kingdom’s ‘security…is an integral part of Egypt’s security’.

In Syria, Iran is supporting the government of President Bashar al-Assad against rebel groups, some backed by Saudi Arabia.