Trudeau told to deepen ties to Saudi Arabia

Adel al-Jubeir met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Raheel Sharif on January 7, the first day of his visit.

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

The protests come after Iran claimed Thursday that a Saudi-led airstrike the previous night had hit the Iranian Embassy in Sanaa, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

Residents and witnesses in Sanaa had told Reuters there was no damage to the Iranian embassy building.

To understand, however, why the Saudis chose to go on the offensive now, a brief review of the development of events between Tehran and Riyadh, and Riyadh and Washington, is warranted. In addition, his visit would allay the Gulf states’ concerns that the U.S. is being more critical of Saudi Arabia than Iran, a perception that could further reduce USA influence, especially in Riyadh when it is needed the most.

After the Saudi embassy was attacked, Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran.

Ever since the Saudi-led air campaign began against Yemen’s Houthi rebels last March, there was always a risk that the cold war between the region’s two big rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, could ignite into something more serious.

Iran denounced those attacks, but the repercussions quickly rippled across the region with Saudi allies Bahrain, Sudan and Djibouti also cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran.

The Somali Foreign Ministry said it recalled its acting ambassador to Tehran and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave Somalia within 72 hours over “Iran’s continuous interference in Somalia’s internal affairs”.

The two countries also support opposing sides in Syria.

While questioning the credibility of the Iranian reports, Saudi Arabian authorities have promised to investigate the alleged bombing.

Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Shiite Houthi rebels, the country’s main opposition force.