Iraq offers itself as a mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran

Flames rise from Saudi Arabia’s embassy during the January 2, 2016, demonstration in Tehran (Mehdi Ghasemi/Reuters). In the time since, a host of Saudi allies have cut or reduced their ties to Iran.

Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, prompting protesters to raid Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Iran.

Iraq’s government also straddles diplomatic alliances: holding close ties with Iran and with the United States and its allies as part of the fight against the Islamic State, whose strongholds include the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Nasr told NPR’s Renee Montagne this morning that the current diplomatic standoff is the latest episode in an ongoing regional power struggle between the two nations, a conflict brought about by destabilization in the region due to USA withdrawal and the Arab Spring, and also by the recent nuclear deal between the us and Iran.

The row has raised fears of an increase in sectarian tensions in the Middle East that could derail efforts to resolve pressing issues including the wars in Syria and Yemen.

BBC World Service Middle East editor Sebastian Usher says that, in the past few years, Qatar has often been at odds with Saudi Arabia, supporting different rebel groups in Syria and backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Pakistan wants to deepen trade links with both Iran and Saudi Arabia and improve access to their vast energy resources to fuel its power-hungry economy.

Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister (pictured above, right), criticized Saudi Arabia for its confrontational attitude and blamed it for exacerbating tensions.

At a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Rouhani also accused the Saudis of providing money and weapons to “terrorists”, carrying out airstrikes in Yemen, and obstructing “the victory of Iraqi and Syrian governments”, the release said.

An even greater divide exists among the Lebanese Shia population, with 95% saying they like Iran, while only 3% say the same about Saudi Arabia.

The cell was allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia and planning a “series of risky bombings” on the tiny Gulf kingdom, the interior ministry said.

Kuwait’s move came after the UN Security Council strongly condemned the attack, carried out by protesters angry over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Zarif said that the rioting had had no official sanction.

“All Iranian officials condemn it”, he added. The war has exacerbated hunger and disease in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.