The storming of the missions followed Saudi Arabia’s execution last week of a top Shiite cleric who was also an opposition figure.
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Jordan summoned Iran’s ambassador in Amman on Wednesday to condemn an attack on the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and “Iranian interference” in Arab affairs, Jordanian state news agency Petra reported. The Saudi embassy in Tehran was firebombed and the kingdom has since broken off ties with Iran.
Several Saudi allies have rallied the kingdom’s side, with a number of nations following its lead in either cutting or reducing diplomatic ties with Iran.
“The fact that the Saudis are not happy with the U.S. position in connection to Iran has also played a role in the Saudi initiative to execute the cleric”.
Katzman believes that the crisis in the Saudi Arabian – Iranian relations will not affect lifting of sanctions from Iran because lifting is contingent only on Iran fulfilling nuclear requirements – and not linked to regional developments.
Mr Zarif, meanwhile, blamed Saudi Arabia for exacerbating the situation.
Qais al-Khazali, the head of the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, gave a speech in the southern city of Basra in which he called on Baghdad to cut diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, expel the newly arrived ambassador and boycott Saudi goods.
Talking further about the relations between the USA and Iran, the expert said that since the United States is not punishing Iran for testing two ballistic missiles that they recently tested, it seems that the Saudis themselves chose to take the matter into their own hands and demonstrate to the domestic audience that Saudi Arabia can take care of itself.
The row between Saudi Arabia, the main Sunni power, and Shiite-dominated Iran erupted following Riyadh’s execution on Saturday of prominent Shiite cleric and activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
In the time since, a host of Saudi allies have cut or reduced their ties to Iran.
The protest was staged in central Baghdad at the same time that government officials were attending military parades for Army Day, which is a national holiday in Shiite-majority Iraq.
The nuclear deal struck last July between Iran and five other world powers was seen as a diplomatic triumph by its authors but it was vehemently opposed by Israel.
On Tuesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused Saudi Arabia of focusing attention on the incident to “cover its crime” of executing Nimr.
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Asked about the diplomatic post attacks, Mohammed al-Nimr said it was “not acceptable”. “About my brother, we were hoping to end it in a political way rather than in blood”.
