Iran stops doing business with Saudi Arabia as Nimr execution rankles

96 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles. Pakistan, which is a predominantly Sunni Muslim state but has a large Shiite minority, has expressed hope that Saudi Arabia and Iran will be able to normalize their relations. The United Arab Emirates also officially downgraded its diplomatic relations with Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister says Saudi Arabia has to make “a crucial choice” – either continue supporting extremists and promoting sectarian hatred or promote good neighborliness and regional stability. The poster behind the men shows Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim Suwaymil a young Saudi Shiite who was executed at the same time as al-Nimr. “It is a precarious balancing act”.

Iran has also announced a ban on the import of Saudi products.

“It is not the moment for the Iranians to detonate mines in the Gulf” region as they await an effective lifting of sanctions and are about to start exporting oil again, said the diplomat.

The pro-Hadi forces attempted to push from Maydee’s port, pounded for weeks by air strikes and naval shelling, into the surrounding city, but ran into heavy Houthi resistance and landmines.

There was no immediate reaction from Saudi Arabia to the Iraqi mediation offer.

Several Saudi allies have rallied the kingdom’s side, with a number of nations following its lead in either cutting or reducing diplomatic ties with Iran. “The process of provoking tension must be stopped”.

The diplomatic standoff between Saudi Arabia and Iran began on Saturday, when the Sunni kingdom executed 47 people, including a popular Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

In Iran, protesters responded by attacking the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. “Not letting the Vienna process stall or fall backward is clearly top on his list”, he said, referring to talks in the Austrian capital that brought Saudi and Iranian officials together to try to end the Syrian war.

Somalia called on Iran to respect the sovereignty of all States as per worldwide law, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 as well as global diplomatic norms. The sultanate has been a long-time mediator between Iran and the rest of the world and helped jumpstart negotiations for the Islamic Republic’s recent nuclear deal with global powers.

Thousands of protesters marched through Tehran after Friday Prayers, chanting “Death to Al-Saud”, in a reference to the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. Shia-dominated areas in eastern Saudi Arabia, the home of al-Nimr, held a three-day mourning period for the cleric.