Saudis cut diplomatic ties with Iran

Dion says Canada is particularly concerned that the country’s execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr could “further inflame” sectarian tensions in the region.

The cleric, who spent more than a decade studying theology in Iran and had been a driving force behind Shiite-led anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia since 2011, was among a group 47 people convicted of terrorism who were executed on Saturday.

In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called al-Nimr “the martyr, the holy warrior”, while protests erupted from Turkey to India to Pakistan.

He also said the attack in Tehran was in line with earlier Iranian assaults on foreign embassies, part of what he called Iran’s destabilizing regional polices.

France and Germany on Sunday condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 prisoners, including a Shiite cleric, voicing concerns over growing tensions in the Middle East following riots in Shiite-dominated Iran. The two nations – majority-Shiite Iran and majority-Sunni Saudi Arabia – have always been at odds.

Nimr was put to death along with 46 Shiite activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in al-Qaeda killings. The announcement was done by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday.

Iranian officials harshly condemned the execution, with Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying that Saudi Arabia would face “divine retribution”.

As the protests rocked the embassy, the Iran Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling for calm as it ordered respect for the diplomatic premises.

Sky’s Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said of the ties being cut: “I think it’s a devastating moment at least for the Syrian peace talks which relied heavily on both Iran and Saudi Arabia to bring their “clients” to the negotiating table”. Saudi Arabia is fighting against Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran, in Yemen.

His stern dismissal came just hours after crowds stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran to set the building alight amid protests over the executions.

He was one of four Shiites killed in the mass execution, the Washington Post reported, and was a leader among the country’s Shiite minority. On Saturday there were public calls for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to shut the embassy down again.

Meanwhile, Al-Nimr’s supporters in eastern Saudi Arabia prepared for three days of mourning at a mosque in al-Awamiya, some 390 kilometers (240 miles) northeast from the capital, Riyadh, in the kingdom’s al-Qatif region.

The sheikh’s brother said he had been told he would not be receiving his body because the cleric had already been buried in an unnamed cemetery.