Iran claims Saudis hit embassy in Yemen

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an air campaign in late March targeting the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has offered support to the Houthis, but denies actively supporting their war effort.

Turkey has reacted angrily to claims in Iranian state media that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was involved in Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric. An Associated Press reporter in Sanaa said there was no obvious damage to the building.

Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Protest outside the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Canberra.

Turkey’s government has urged both Riyadh and Tehran to ease tensions, criticizing both the execution of the cleric and the attacks on missions.

China has sent an envoy to Saudi Arabia and Iran amid an escalating feud, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, calling on all sides to exercise restraint.

Shortly after the unrest, a diplomatic row erupted in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia severing diplomatic ties with the region’s main Shiite power, Iran.

He said Saudi bombers hit Iranian diplomatic facilities in Yemen several times, “killing two local service personnel, injuring a number of Yemeni guards and inflicting damage to the buildings”.

The Saudi authorities should have not responded to the criticisms of al-Nimr by beheading him, Rouhani said in a meeting with visiting Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen.

Tehran announced Thursday it was banning imports of goods from Saudi Arabia in response to the incident.

The militant group, which has claimed responsibility for attacks in the kingdom and stepped up operations in neighbouring Yemen, singled out the al-Ha’ir and Tarfiya prisons where many al-Qaeda and Islamic State supporters have been detained.

Nimr was a highly respected cleric in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite community who was behind demonstrations calling for better treatment of the minority, but he was executed for terrorism.