Riyadh’s execution of Nimr al-Nimr sparked widespread protests across Shiite-majority countries in the Middle East, with a mob attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city Mashhad.
A U.S. official said Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken on Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, while the official Saudi Press Agency reported that Kerry had spoken on Monday with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Salman.
Bahrain ordered Iranian diplomats to leave its kingdom within 48 hours.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced Sunday that the kingdom was severing diplomatic ties with Iran after demonstrators stormed its embassy in Tehran in protest of Riyadh’s execution of a Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned on Saturday that Saudi Arabia would face divine vengeance for the execution of al-Nimr, who was put to death in a mass execution of 47 men accused of terrorism-related offenses.
Al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric from eastern Saudi Arabia, often criticized the Saudi royal family and called for Shiite empowerment. It’s been some time coming: The two countries are on opposite sides of the civil war in Yemen, where the Saudis support extremist groups and the Iranians the government and Houthi rebels; and in Syria, where Riyadh supports extremist groups and Iran the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Arab League said it would hold emergency talks at the request of Saudi Arabia. No Saudi diplomats were in the embassy.
On Monday, Saudi ally Bahrain said it would also cut ties with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates said it would reduce the number of Iranian diplomats allowed in the country. “We decided it will be better for us to cut diplomatic relations,”, the diplomat added.
Both countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran, maintain “brotherly” relations with Bangladesh.
“Saudi Arabia sees not only its interests but also its existence in pursuing crises and confrontations and attempts to resolve its internal problems by exporting them to the outside“, said ministry spokesperson Hossein Jaber Ansari.
He also commented on the NY meeting on Syria and hoped Saudi Arabia will not find a chance to pursue its intensions to aggravate tension over the case.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks.
The Saudi embassy was torched in an attack January 2. That’s where the family of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is holding three days of mourning at a local mosque.
Officials later told AMCnews that Bangladesh would “just follow the development”.
The regime in Saudi Arabia has been strongly criticized by human rights organizations.
Saudi Arabia has been compared to Daesh in long time now, especially for their support of terrorist organizations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Hashtags #SueMeSaudi and #SaudiArabiaIsISIS has now many hits every minute, and many want to mark their opposition and to show their distance to the brutal dictator regime in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia practice Wahhabism ideology, a strictly fundamentalist orientation within Sunni Islam, which in practice is the state religion in the country. It is also ideology direction that has inspired al-Qaida and DAESH.
