Somalia cuts ties to Iran amid regional crisis

Al-Nimr’s brother, as well as another local resident of al-Awamiya in eastern Saudi Arabia, said they’ve heard gunfire on recent nights.

The latest spike in tension between the regional rivals began at the weekend when Saudi Arabia said it had executed an outspoken Shiite cleric and a critic of the Saudi royal family.

“Saudi Arabia’s wrong decision will have an effect on [Syria] talks in Vienna and NY, but Tehran will stay committed”, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by Iranian state news agency IRNA.

The storming of the missions followed Saudi Arabia’s execution last week of a top Shiite cleric who was also an opposition figure.

“For the past two-and-a-half years, Saudi Arabia has opposed Iran’s diplomacy”, he said at the press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. “For sure we will not allow any such thing”.

In defending the sheikh’s execution, Prince Mohammed says: “The court did not, at all, make any distinction between whether or not a person is Shiite or Sunni”.

The magazine said it conducted the interview on Monday.

The safety of foreign diplomatic missions was a responsibility of host countries; therefore, the attacks against Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran and Consulate in Mashhad could not be explained and accepted, added the statement.

But Iran responded by blaming Saudi Arabia for all the fallouts.

Somalia, another Arab nation in Africa, has demanded all Iranian diplomats and employees leave within 72 hours. Ansari said the embassy was damaged and several guards were injured.

A Russian official, meanwhile, has indicated Moscow’s willingness to mediate “the settlement of existing and emerging discords” between the two estranged neighbours.

Saudi Arabia is militarily backing the ousted Sunni-led government in Yemen, while Iran backs the Shia Houthi rebels. Iran has offered support to the Houthis, but denies actively supporting their war effort.

Missiles fired by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in Yemen have hit Iran’s embassy in the capital Sanaa, Iran claimed on Thursday.

However, the report, which is being publicized by Iran’s state owned press, it has so far not been confirmed by independent sources.

At a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Rouhani also accused the Saudis of providing money and weapons to “terrorists”, carrying out airstrikes in Yemen, and obstructing “the victory of Iraqi and Syrian governments”, the release said. Annual imports from Saudi Arabia – mainly packing materials and textiles – total about $60 million a year.