Saudi coalition denies bombing Iran Embassy in Sanaa

Saudi Arabia said earlier Thursday that it had shot down a missile fired into the kingdom from nearby Yemen.

The executions were carried out only days after Mr Erdogan visited Riyadh for talks with King Salman, and Iranian news reports were quick to draw a connection between the two.

Tensions between Shi’ite Muslim power Iran and the conservative Sunni kingdom have spiralled since Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an opponent of the ruling dynasty who demanded greater rights for Saudi Arabia’s marginalised Shi’ite minority.

Riyadh severed diplomatic ties and air links with Tehran after angry crowds set fire to its embassy in the Iranian capital and its consulate in Mashhad.

Djibouti’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran has been mocked by Iranians.

A spokesperson for the coalition said it would investigate Iran’s accusation but said that allegations made on the basis of information provided by the Houthis “have no credibility”. An Associated Press reporter in Sanaa said there was no obvious damage to the building.

UNITED NATIONS, United States-Iran told the United Nations on Friday that it does not want to escalate tensions in the Middle East, even as it took a swipe at Saudi Arabia for “sectarian hate-mongering”.

It also urged diplomatic missions in Sanaa not to offer militias an opportunity “to use diplomatic missions’ buildings in any military action”.

The airstrike claim by Iran came Thursday afternoon, when its state-run news agency said a Saudi-led airstrike the previous night hit the Iranian embassy in Sana, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Bahrain has also severed diplomatic relations, Kuwait and Qatar recalled their ambassadors, the UAE downgraded its ties and Oman condemned the embassy attacks.

Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhan “forwarded public and private messages to Saudi Arabia after the elections expressing readiness for dialog and laying the grounds for regional stability and confronting violence and extremism”, he said. Annual imports from Saudi Arabia – mainly packing materials and textiles – total about $60 million a year.