Egypt sides with Riyadh and describes Iran’s behavior as ‘unacceptable’

An Associated Press reporter in Yemen’s capital says he sees no damage at the Iranian Embassy after the Islamic Republic said it was hit in an overnight Saudi-led strike.

“The Saudi government is responsible for the damage caused and for the situation of members of staff who were injured”, foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

Kuwait’s move came after the UN Security Council strongly condemned the attack, carried out by protesters angry over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. The Saudi military says it intercepted the missile in Jizan province and later destroyed the platform that launched it.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the announcement in Riyadh, saying Iranian diplomats had 48 hours to leave the kingdom, but Tehran fired back that Saudi Arabia’s decision would not distract from its “big mistake” of executing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Iran on Thursday said the warplanes had attacked its embassy in Yemen’s capital on Wednesday night, an accusation that exacerbated tension between the major Shi’ite and Sunni powers in the region.

Katzman believes that the crisis in the Saudi Arabian – Iranian relations will not affect lifting of sanctions from Iran because lifting is contingent only on Iran fulfilling nuclear requirements – and not linked to regional developments.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused the Saudi government of fanning strife between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and creating “an Islamaphobic atmosphere” in world opinion, according to a news release from Iran’s U.N. Mission.

Iran’s stance against such violations has been clearly declared by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, he noted, promising a full investigation into the incidents.

The diplomatic isolation comes at a sensitive time for Iran.

Pakistani Shiite Muslim women shout slogans during a protest in Lahore on January 3, 2016, against t …

In Eastern Province on Sunday, state media said Saudi police were shot at in a “terrorist action” in Nimr’s home village.

Washington and other Western powers have called for calm amid fears the dispute could raise sectarian tensions across the Middle East and derail efforts to resolve conflicts from Syria to Yemen.

Executions have soared in Saudi Arabia since King Salman ascended the throne a year ago with 153 people put to death in 2015, almost twice as many as in 2014, for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy. The execution ignited widespread worldwide condemnation, from both political and religious figures.