Saudi cutting ties will not hurt Iran

The diplomatic crisis surrounding Saudi Arabia and Iran widened on Tuesday as Kuwait recalled its ambassador to Tehran and Bahrain severed air links in the face of growing worldwide concern. “And I want to emphasize here that we have no enmity towards Iran, we have no enmity towards the Iranian people”, Al-Jubeir said, adding that Saudi Arabia has merely been reacting to Iran’s outrage. The Obama administration is mystified-and not a little miffed-with Riyadh’s behavior, especially because it scuttles Washington’s hopes for a peace deal in Syria, one that would need the blessings of the Iranians as well as the Saudis.

An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Saudi Shiite cleric who was executed last week by Saudi Arabia, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

The executions have sparked global protests, including a violent attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran, Iran.

Turkey’s relations with Saudi Arabia have warmed considerably in recent months and in December President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Riyadh for talks with King Salman and the entire Saudi elite.

Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Iran is crucial in resolving a range of issues in the Middle East, where they are often on opposing sides.

While al-Nimr’s execution is unlikely to change Iraq-Saudi policy in any meaningful way, it does have the potential to set off violence in Iraq, Sowell said.

The nuclear deal, once implemented, would gradually eliminate some sanctions against the Islamic republic, potentially posing a challenge to Saudi Arabia, which has been pumping out more oil to reduce prices, partly in anticipation of Iran rejoining the market.

Iran is a key ally of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, has helped it in the fight against the Islamic State group and supports powerful Shiite militias in the country.

The diplomatic stand-off between Iran and Saudi Arabia began Saturday, when the kingdom executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges – the largest mass execution it has carried out since 1980.

The row has raised fears of an increase in sectarian tensions in the Middle East that could derail efforts to resolve pressing issues including the wars in Syria and Yemen. This prompted protestors in Shia-dominated Iran to storm the Saudi embassy in Teheran, an action that wasn’t apparently encouraged by the government. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has vowed swift and harsh revenge for the execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr by the largely Sunni Saudis, promising to bring down the Saudi Royal dynasty.

Shiite-majority Iraq has close ties with Tehran.

Echoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has sought to tone down the conflict, Khoshroo said his country “will do its best to arrest all the perpetrators of the incident and prosecute them”.