Iraq offers to mediate Saudi-Iran dispute

A Sanaa resident went to the embassy on Thursday and reported no damage but said there was some shrapnel strewn nearby.

Iran’s government said it had forbidden imports from Saudi Arabia after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday morning, according to state news agency IRNA.

Jordan on Wednesday summoned Iran’s ambassador in Amman to officially inform Tehran of Jordan’s denunciation of Iran’s interference in regional countries’ affairs, especially those of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday refused to condemn Saudi Arabia for the execution of 47 people, saying it was an “internal legal matter” of the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday has inflamed anger across the Middle East, infuriating Iran.

Iranian protesters in Tehran, angry at the execution, then attacked the Saudi embassy, leading Saudi Arabia to cut off diplomatic relations. Since then, Sudan, Bahrain, Djibouti and now Somalia have followed suit.

Later, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that “during an air raid by Saudi Arabia against Sanaa, a rocket fell near our embassy and unfortunately one of our guards was seriously wounded”.

The two Middle Eastern countries are raising the level of hostilities between them, at considerable risk not only to peace in the region, an important general objective for America, but also to the implementation of the global accord with Iran over its nuclear weapons program.

Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Both Iran and the Houthis deny this. The Saudis support a coalition of forces loyal to Saleh’s recently ousted successor, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Chamber of commerce leaders told local daily newspaper al-Riyadh that Saudi businesses should replace Iranian goods with alternatives from other Arab and Islamic countries. He added that the group has used civilian facilities, including abandoned embassies.

Spokesman Ahmad Assari said coalition jets carried out heavy strikes in Sanaa on the night of January 6 to target missile launchers used by the Houthi rebels to fire at Saudi Arabia.

He called the incident a “deliberate action by Saudi Arabia”.

A Saudi Arabian investigation into Saudi air strikes on an Iranian Embassy in Yemen have concluded that Saudi Arabia did not conduct air strikes on the embassy.