These are the countries involved in Iran’s and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing dispute

Over and above, Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, announced Monday that Saudi Arabia will cease air traffic with Iran, placing a ban on its citizens from travelling there, reported Al Arabiya local news.

Kirby’s comments come two days after Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was an outspoken critic of the Sunni kingdom’s ruling family, and 46 other prisoners.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned “in the strongest terms” the attacks against the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and another Saudi diplomatic mission in Iran after the execution of the cleric infuriated protesters there.

Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Arab neighbors, including Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have also severed ties with Iran.

Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, both Iranian nationals were charged in a federal court in NY with plotting to assassinate Al-Jubeir.

In October, Bahrain ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires to leave within 72 hours and recalled its own ambassador from Tehran after alleging Iran sponsored “subversion” and “terrorism” and funneled arms to militants.

According to the internal communiqué seen by The Independent, the head of Riyadh’s security services ordered security forces in the country to cancel any holidays scheduled for early in 2016 and urged them to exercise “maximum precaution” until further notice.

When Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991, Iran stopped its pilgrims from attending the hajj. “It certainly is going to be even more hard to get everybody back around the table if you have the Saudis and the Iranians trading public barbs and public expressions of antagonism between the two countries”, Earnest said. Sheikh Nimr was involved in anti-government protests that erupted in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Arab Spring, up to his arrest in 2012.

“There is no escalation on the part of Saudi Arabia”.

United Nations deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said de Mistura “hopes that the adverse consequences of the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran do not affect the peace process with the Syrians”.

With Saudi Arabia and Iran backing opposing groups in Syria and Iraq, and on opposite sides of the conflict in Yemen, “Democracy Now!” examines how this will impact both regional tensions and the USA relationship with Saudi Arabia.

She said this was why other countries known for human rights violations, such as North Korea, were also not included.

The renowned Shiite cleric was executed for his criticism of the Saudi leadership, among 47 people executed on the same day.