Saudi-led coalition, Yemen deny Iran embassy hit in Sanaa

The crisis began at the weekend when Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric and activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as well as 46 other convicts, prompting a furious reaction from Tehran.

Iran also said on Thursday that Saudi warplanes had attacked its embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, an accusation that Riyadh said it would investigate.

First, the USA should seek to postpone the convening of the January 25 worldwide conference in Geneva that seeks a diplomatic solution to Syria’s civil war, in order to give Saudi Arabia and Iran a calming period as the participation of both countries is central to finding any lasting political solution in Syria. “We need to stand united… and stop those who are adding fuel to the fire”, he added.

Asked about the possibility of war, Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Economist magazine: “It is something that we do not foresee at all, and whoever is pushing towards that is somebody who is not in their right mind”.

Several countries have rallied with Saudi Arabia.

The move by the Iranian cabinet follows an announcement by Riyadh earlier this week that it had cut all relations with Iran. On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats in Saudi Arabia returned to Tehran, according to state media.

There has been no official information that Djibouti has cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran but many are anxious that the country in the horn of Africa could increase the fee of Iranian oil tankers going through the Bab al-Mandab strait. Qatar and Kuwait also their recalled ambassadors.

Staff at Iran’s embassy in Riyadh and its consulate in Jeddah flew home Wednesday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

“The policies of the Saudi regime will have a domino effect and they will be buried under the avalanche they have created”, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency on the sidelines of a ceremony held in Tehran to commemorate Nimr.

Meanwhile, a number of countries – including the U.S., the U.K., China and Turkey – urged both Saudi Arabia and Iran to show restraint amid the ongoing row.

Zarif reiterated that the embassy’s ransacking had no official blessing.

What stands out in Sudan’s case is how quickly its relations with mainly Shia Iran have deteriorated. Saudi Arabia had announced on Monday that Riyadh was halting trade links and air traffic with the Islamic Republic.

Knowing full well what the repercussions of executing Sheikh al-Nimr would be, Saudi Arabia went ahead with its plans because the potential gains, from the Saudi perspective, far outweighed the prospective fallout.

He was arrested in 2012 after calling for two governorates to be separated from the kingdom.