Iran president condemns Saudi execution, embassy attack

The cleric’s execution has threatened to complicate Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the Shiite-led government in Iraq, where the Saudi Embassy is preparing to formally reopen for the first time in almost 25 years.

“The unjustly spilt blood of this martyr will have quick consequences”, Khamenei said in a speech to clerics in Iran’s capital.

Angered by Sheikh Nimr’s execution, Protesters in Iran, broke into the Saudi Embassy early Sunday, setting fires and throwing papers from the roof.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned al-Nimr’s execution in Saudi Arabia, and he also blasted the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and on a Saudi consulate in another Iranian city. A prosecutor said 40 people were held.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned Sheikh al-Nimr’s execution, saying on Sunday the cleric “neither invited people to take up arms nor hatched covert plots”.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said that by condemning the execution, Iran had “revealed its true face represented in support for terrorism”.

Al-Nimr had been a vocal critic of Bahrain’s Sunni-led monarchy, which harshly suppressed the 2011 Shiite-led protests.

Tehran authorities could not be immediately reached for comment about the apparent name change for the street. Khamenei’s website carried a picture of a Saudi executioner next to notorious Islamic State executioner “Jihadi John”, with the caption “Any differences”.

The Guard promised “harsh revenge” against the Saudi royals for the execution, according to Reuters.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs highly appreciated the efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to consolidate peace and stability at regional and worldwide levels and its high global esteem for its constructive initiatives”.

Al-Sadr’s word carries weight with Shiites beyond Iraq’s border, and the spiritual leader called for them to protest, too – including in Saudi Arabia.

Analysts have speculated that the execution of the four Shia was partly to demonstrate to Saudi Arabia’s majority Sunni Muslims that the government did not differentiate between political violence committed by members of the two sects.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply dismayed” by the execution of Nimr and the 46 other people, and called for “calm and restraint in reaction” to the executions. It added that the USA has issues with the legal process in Saudi Arabia and that the government there needs to respect human rights and conduct transparent judicial proceedings.

“Under worldwide human rights law, the death penalty may only be imposed, in countries that still have this form of punishment, if a strict set of substantive and procedural requirements are met”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said.

Nimr was arrested in 2012, three years after calling for the oil-rich Eastern Province’s Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates to be separated from Saudi Arabia and united with Bahrain.

“Iran is increasingly seeking to position itself as the defender of Shi’ite interests globally, and has a growing constituency as many Shi’ites feel beleaguered and victimised, especially with the rise of ISIS”, she said, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Accusing the coreligionists of being a proxy for Iran (claims which both the Houthis and Tehran have denied), Riyadh launched a military campaign, including a naval blockade, prompting criticism that the intervention has caused a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’.