There has been no official information that Djibouti has cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran but many are anxious that the country in the horn of Africa could increase the fee of Iranian oil tankers going through the Bab al-Mandab strait.
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Iran strongly condemned the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, there were mass protests in the country, in particular, Saudi embassy in the capital Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad were attacked. He was among 47 people executed by the Saudi authorities on Saturday for terrorism offenses, sparking an escalation in tension between regional rivals which already support opposing sides in civil wars in both Syria and Yemen. Since then, Iranians have attacked several embassies in Tehran including those of Kuwait in 1987, Saudi Arabia in 1988, Denmark in 2006 and Britain in 2011.
Kuwait has become the fourth country from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to downgrade its relations with Iran after recalling its ambassador. Sudan once tilted toward Iran, but has been looking to Saudi Arabia for aid since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011.
Several allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead and on Monday scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran.
At the same time the government in Riyadh is finding its authority increasingly strengthened among the Sunni majority at home as a result of the attacks on its embassy in Tehran.
In retaliation, Iran’s government has banned all imports of products made in Saudi Arabia.
They also cast doubts over chances for a peaceful solution in Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition has been bombing the Iran-allied Houthi movement for nine months.
But analysts said that the impact of geopolitical risks in the Middle East on the oil market is being cushioned by the oversupply and higher output from oil producers in other parts of the world.
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Kuwait’s announcement, which was carried on the state-run Kuwait News Agency on Tuesday, did not elaborate or say how the Kuwait-Iran diplomatic ties would be affected.
