Iran claims Saudi airstrike on its embassy in Yemen

Saudi coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said the claim would be investigated but that accusations based on the Houthis “have no credibility”, Reuters reported.

Iran on Thursday accused the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen of hitting its embassy in the capital, Sanaa, in an overnight airstrike, but there were no visible signs of damage on the building.

The Iranian ambassador was also told that 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.

Saudi supports the embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Yemen, whereas Iran backs the Houthi rebels.

Iranian hardliners responded by burning the Saudi embassy in Tehran, prompting Riyadh and several Arab allies to cut their diplomatic ties with Iran. Al-Nimr was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy but denied ever calling for violence.

On January 2, Saudi Arabia executed 47 alleged terrorists, including a prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The two countries are the major rivals in the Middle East and have been engaged in proxy wars in various neighbouring countries for a greater share of influence in the region.

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

Fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Bahrain also followed suit, while the United Arab Emirates downgraded its ties with Iran and Kuwait recalled its envoy to Tehran.

Although an Associated Press reporter in Sanaa said he saw no damage to the Iranian embassy there on Thursday, the provocation of a nearby strike was enough to prompt further retaliation from the Iranian government.

The country is also freezing all Saudi imports.

Saudi media said that the four Iranians set to stand trial in Saudi Arabia were arrested in 2013 and 2014, but they were not identified nor were the charges against them spelled out.