Qatar recalls ambassador from Iran – Foreign Ministry

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that a number of guards at the embassy were injured, and part of the building’s wall was damaged in the strike by Saudi warplanes Wednesday night.

While Riyadh views the Houthis as Iranian proxies working to expand Tehran’s influence, the rebels themselves insist that their sole aim is to liberate their nation from a corrupt government.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran on Sunday after crowds of protesters attacked two of its diplomatic posts in Iran. “Whether you approve or not of the decision is a separate issue”, Erdogan said in a televised speech, his first reaction to the controversy that has raised tensions between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran. It came on the same day the kingdom executed a Shia cleric convicted of “terrorism”, which has seen tension grow between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“We strongly condemn our president being directly targeted in certain articles in Iranian outlets controlled by the Iranian authorities… and demand that these articles cease immediately”, the ministry said in a statement.

The Iranian media believes Djibouti, Sudan and Bahrain sympathized with Saudi Arabia to sanction Iran after protests against the execution of a Shiite cleric followed by the attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran.

Iranian diplomats have left Saudi Arabia and returned to Tehran after the kingdom severed ties with the Islamic Republic.

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Muslim and an Ayatollah of the Shia sect, was executed by the Saudi Arabian government.

Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia on December 29-31, holding talks on the Syrian crisis with Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia.

“For the past 2¹/₂ years, Saudi Arabia has opposed Iran’s diplomacy”, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif charged at a news conference. Pakistan, which is a predominantly Sunni Muslim state but has a large Shiite minority, has expressed hope that Saudi Arabia and Iran will be able to normalize their relations.