Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International Canada, said Dion’s comment was, “a bit out of the ordinary in terms of how willing previous governments have been to speak out about human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia”.
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The Swiss move comes after Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to the media after a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at the State Department in Washington, July 16, 2015. The poster behind the men shows Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim Suwaymil a young Saudi Shiite who was executed at the same time as al-Nimr.
The two Middle Eastern countries are raising the level of hostilities between them, at considerable risk not only to peace in the region, an important general objective for America, but also to the implementation of the worldwide accord with Iran over its nuclear weapons program.
While many Iraqi Shiites took to the streets in outrage over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, the country’s prime minister has had to walk a more cautious line, trying to contain Iraq’s own explosive sectarian tensions.
The tensions between the Sunni and Shia powers have reverberated across the Middle East and the Muslim world, complicating efforts to resolve conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
Tehran said an unspecified number of embassy staff had been wounded in the raid on the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa, which has been targeted by months of air strikes by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Oman expressed regret on Wednesday at attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran over Riyadh’s execution of a Shiite leader, but stopped short of recalling its ambassador or cutting ties.
“All Iranian officials condemn it”, he added.
Al-Abadi may lack the ability to get ahead of a potential crisis, Jiyad said. It wasn’t a funeral, as the sheikh’s brother has said Saudi authorities had already buried his body in an undisclosed cemetery.
“I have spoken to the foreign ministers of some of the Arab countries to reduce the consequences of this issue and prevent enemies from dragging the region into a war that can have no winners”, Jaafari said.
But analysts say he has resisted pressure from Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, politicians and protesters to close the newly reopened Saudi embassy in Baghdad.
Saudi Arabia began the campaign against Yemen in late March 2015.
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He was arrested in 2012 after calling for two Saudi governorates to be separated from the kingdom.
