UN Security Council Condemns Attack On Saudi Embassy In Iran

The execution sparked new demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where Shia Muslims complain of marginalization, as well as in Iraq, Bahrain and several other countries.

The authority said that following the kingdom’s decision to cut diplomatic relations, it had informed all airlines operating in Saudi Arabia it was “suspending and preventing all their flights to and from Iran”, according to a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

Mr. Kirby also said the U.S was considering new sanctions against Iran for violations of the U.N. Security Council resolutions with respect to their ballistic missile program.

Also on Tuesday, Turkey said it was ready to do everything it could to help calm tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The campaign by Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival.

A Bahraini protester holds up a picture of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr toward riot police officers in Daih, Bahrain, a largely Shiite suburb of the capital.

“The region is already a powder keg”.

The fallout threatens to destabilise the entire Middle East after Iran, which mainly adheres to the Shia branch of Islam, said Sunni-run Saudi would face “divine vengeance”.

Iran must “act like a normal country”. It triggered protests in a number of countries and led angry protesters to attack the Saudi embassy in Tehran over the weekend.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have erupted into a full-blown diplomatic crisis as Riyadh and its Sunni Arab allies cut or reduced ties with Tehran, sparking global concern.

The toppling of Saddam in 2003 upturned the regional power balance, however, as Iran used its ties to the country’s large Shi’ite community to gain sway in Baghdad, pitting Riyadh and Tehran more openly against each other – a pattern repeated in Yemen and Syria after the “Arab Spring” uprisings.

The Saudis accuse the U.S of giving legitimacy to Iran before roping them into the Syria process.

“The Iranians, even before the break of diplomatic relations, have not been very supportive, have not been very positive in these peace efforts”, he added.

“This exceptional step has been taken in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states”, a foreign ministry statement said.

Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using the attack on the embassy as an “excuse” to sever ties and further increase sectarian tensions.

In addition to smashing furniture and setting fires at the Saudi embassy in Tehran, protesters also stormed the country’s consulate in Mashhad.

“We’ve got a very hard situation that we’re trying to navigate in terms of reaching a political resolution for the situation inside of Syria”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a press briefing on Monday.