Iran, Saudi step up war of words over executed Shiite cleric

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Saudi Arabian politicians will face “divine vengeance” for executing prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

In a ruling handed down by a top Saudi court on October 25, Al-Nimr was convicted of “inciting sedition and revolt”.

Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012, and his execution drew condemnation from Shiites across the region.

“The fire has destroyed the interior of the embassy”, an eyewitness said.

The executions also sparked a wave of anger in neighbouring Iran, where protesters firebombed the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

The global rights group, Amnesty worldwide, said that the 47 executions demonstrated the Saudi authorities’ “utter disregard for human rights and life” and called Sheikh Nimr’s trial “political and grossly unfair”.

Al Nimr, 56, was a driving force behind anti-government protests in Saudi during the Arab Spring of 2011 and Riyadh has insisted that the death penalties were part of a justified war on terrorism.

Another 46 men were executed, including Shiite activists and Sunnis accused of involvement in Al-Qaeda killings.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also lashed out at Saudi Arabia Sunday.

According to reports, protesters broke furniture and smashed windows in an annex building to the embassy, media reports said.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said that the Saudi kingdom supported terrorists but executed critics within the country, and added that it would “pay a high price” for this.

The US, a key ally of Saudi Arabia, and the European Union also expressed disapproval of the decision to execute al-Nimr, saying it “risks exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be reduced”.

Lebanon’s Supreme Islamic Shi’ite Council called Nimr’s execution a “grave mistake”, and the Hezbollah group termed it an assassination as Shi’ites took to the streets in protest from Tehran to Kashmir.

In Saudi Arabia, Al-Riyadh is adamant that “the homeland’s security, unity and prestige are non-negotiable” and no “incitement of harm or sedition” should be tolerated irrespective of the culprit’s affiliations.

Prosecutors said 40 arrests were made in Tehran and four in Mashhad.

During a televised address on Sunday, Nasrallah said criticism is forbidden in Saudi Arabia, adding that the country is no place for any cleric of any sect casting the kingdom’s policies into question. Al-Dhubaiti took part in the attack outside the house of a suspected al-Qaida militant. At one point, he even advocated that the majority Shiite region of eastern Saudi Arabia secede from Riyadh.