Iran accuses Saudi of bombing embassy in Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen on Thursday denied an accusation by Tehran that its warplanes had targeted the Iranian embassy there.

“We’re here to tell the Western powers to put pressure on Saudi Arabia to respect the rights of their citizens, of human beings, irrespective of faith”.

Iran’s state-run news agency says a Saudi-led airstrike last night hit the Iranian Embassy in Yemen.

Since Saudi Arabia severed ties to Iran, a host of its allies have cut or reduced their ties as well.

Iran’s annual exports to Saudi Arabia are worth about US$130 million a year and are mainly steel, cement and agricultural products.

The row that erupted between Riyadh and Tehran started following Saudi Arabia’s execution Saturday of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr.

And Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry denounced the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran as “unacceptable” during a visit to the Saudi capital.

Any coordination within OPEC is highly unlikely amid the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Sam Barden, the director of Wimpole International, an energy market development company believes. Bahrain, Sudan, and Kuwait have also scaled back diplomatic relations with Iran in solidarity.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States has received conflicting reports about the Iranian Embassy in Sanaa and was still collecting information to determine what, if anything, happened to the building.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran on Sunday after crowds of protesters attacked two of its diplomatic posts in Iran. Shia-dominated areas in eastern Saudi Arabia, the home of al-Nimr, held a three-day mourning period for the cleric. Further escalation of conflict will seriously affect Mideast peace, refugee and anti-terrorism policies, the crude oil market and all other issues of global concern.

The statement also condemned remarks that directly accused President Erdogan, and said the publications aimed to create a negative image of him in the eyes of Iranian people.

Saudi Arabia doesn’t rank among Iran’s top trading partners but the ban on pilgrimages could hurt: it makes around $18 billion a year from religious tourism, and Iranians comprise one of the biggest groups of visitors.

The diplomat reaffirmed Cairo’s backing for Saudi Arabia in the run-up to an Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting that is due to discuss the dispute.