Turkey slams Iranian reports linking Erdogan to execution

Saudi Arabia and a number of Arab countries severed relations with Iran after the ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Tehran this week by angry mobs protesting the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by Riyadh.

Iran warned Saudi Arabia Wednesday to stop working against it as their diplomatic crisis intensified despite efforts to defuse a row that has raised fears of greater regional instability.

In a press release, Hassan Rouhani accused the Saudis of supporting terrorism and obstructing “the victory of Iraqi and Syrian governments”, and heightening tensions in the region.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran on Sunday after the attacks, sparked by Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent opposition Shiite cleric over the weekend.

Iranian protesters responded by attacking the Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.

Chamber of commerce leaders told local daily newspaper Al-Riyadh that Saudi businesses should replace Iranian goods with alternatives from other Arab and Islamic countries.

Qatar has had troubled relations with Saudi Arabia in the past, but ties have improved in recent years, and both countries are leading backers of the Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.

China is watching the growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran nervously, hoping not to jeopardize relations with either of the two major oil exporters. Those attacks came after Saudi Arabia executed al-Nimr on January 2.

Saudi officials say that by taking offence at the execution of Al Nimr, Tehran has demonstrated its claim of dominion over all Shiites regardless of national borders, which Riyadh in turn calls a fundamental threat to the worldwide system.

Savola, the kingdom’s largest food products company, which earns some 13 percent of total revenues from Iran, said on Tuesday it plans to maintain its investments there despite the standoff.

Qatar has also handed over a protest note to the Iranian embassy in Doha, over the attacks that according to a foreign ministry statement constitute a “violation of the worldwide charters and norms that emphasize the protection of diplomatic missions and their staff”.

The spokesman said the Iranian Embassy was damaged and several guards were injured.

In eastern Saudi Arabia, the home of al-Nimr and much of the kingdom’s roughly 10 to 15 percent Shiite population, three days of mourning over his death ended Wednesday night.