Saudi Arabia-Iran crisis widens as Kuwait recalls envoy

Bahrain and Sudan followed Saudi Arabia in cutting diplomatic ties, while the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait withdrew their ambassadors.

Djibouti said Wednesday it has cut diplomatic relations with Iran amid a diplomatic crisis with ally Saudi Arabia.

Supporters of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in Saudi Arabia, during an anti-Saudi protest in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Thursday.

Iran has regularly denied accusations in the past of involvement in attacks in Bahrain, which has been in political turmoil since protests erupted there in 2011, led by majority Shiite Muslims demanding an end to the Sunni monarchy’s political domination and full powers for parliament.

Iranian protesters responded by attacking the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.

He previously said that the souring of relations between Saudi and Iran puts Doha in a tricky position, given its “intimate” relationship with the kingdom and its business ties to Tehran.

Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister (pictured above, right), criticized Saudi Arabia for its confrontational attitude and blamed it for exacerbating tensions. The worldwide community has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to observe restraint after tensions over the execution of the cleric and 46 others – Saudi Arabia’s biggest mass execution for decades.

“We are asking Sheikh Nimr’s supporters to refrain from violence and chaos in and outside Saudi Arabia and to wage peaceful demonstrations”, he added.

Retno said that Indonesia was very anxious about the deteriorating bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and its possible effects on peace and stability in Middle East region.

And in Yemen, Riyadh is leading a military intervention against Iran-backed Shia rebels who have seized control of large parts of the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted both Jubeir and Zarif individually a year ago for talks on the Syrian crisis as Moscow pushed for the creation of a broad coalition to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists in Syria.

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

“This would be much more vicious…by proxy”, said the diplomat, ruling out direct conflict between the rival regional heavyweights.

Judicial officials have said the 50 people arrested include the alleged leaders of the attacks.