Saudis Cut Ties with Iran Following Shiite Cleric Execution

As tensions threatened to spill over on Sunday night (3 December), Riyadh took the decision to sever diplomatic ties with its Shia rival and ordered Iranian diplomatic personnel to leave within 48 hours.

Three years earlier he had called for the oil-rich Eastern Province’s Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates to be separated from Saudi Arabia and united with Bahrain.

“We are deeply concerned to hear of the attack yesterday on the Saudi embassy in Tehran”. Some went inside and ransacked offices. Saudi authorities said the execution was a judicial matter.

“This was the Saudis saying, ‘Enough”.

“It isn’t that they don’t care what the White House thinks”, the source said.

In Iran, the last word belongs to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Sheikh Nimr’s outspokenness and recalcitrance represented a threat to the Saudi ruling order that in the past might have been tolerated.

Inevitably, as a outcome of these latest developments, pressures will build on the Obama White House to play a more pro-active role in helping to calm tensions.

Around 40 people were arrested.

On Saturday, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Teheran and a consulate in second city Mashhad amid protests at Nimr’s execution.

“In no way is this justifiable & foremost disrespects #Iran”. No serious injuries were reported, officials said. That attitude exemplifies how Saudi Arabia has taken a more aggressive stance ever since King Salmaan came into power a year ago. And current regional conflicts have stoked animosity between them.

Saudi Arabia has faced criticism from many sides for its accelerating rate of executions and for the killings in the Saudi-led invasion of neighborhing Yemen. And in Syria, Iran allies itself with President Bashar al-Assad while Saudi Arabia looks to overthrow him.

Smoke rises from Saudi Arabia’s embassy during a demonstration in Tehran Jan. 2, 2016. He was among 47 people who were simultaneously executed, some by beheading and some by firing squad, in Saudi prisons Saturday.

Al-Sadr made the assumption that al-Nimr had suffered the same fate. The Revolutionary Guards said “harsh revenge” would topple “this pro-terrorist, anti-Islamic regime”.

The Middle East minister said he expected the kingdom’s government not to carry out the death sentence imposed on the cleric’s nephew Ali al-Nimr, who was just 17 when he was told he faced crucifixion over his role in the Arab Spring protests in 2012. The BBC quoted Nasrallah as telling a crowd that the blood of Sheikh Nimr would “plague the Al Saud [family] until the Day of Resurrection”, prompting cries of “Death to the Al Saud!”

Al-Nimr died on Saturday alongside 46 terrorism convicts.

Shiites in the neighbouring countries complain of marginalisation.

Saudi officials had been convinced that al-Nimr was a central figure in attempts to stir dissent among the country’s Shia minority, which accounts for around 15 per cent of the population and is viewed by Riyadh as being a subversive threat, urged on by the Iranian leadership. He wanted the Saudi royal family deposed but publicly advocated peaceful protests over violence.