9, the GCC, at an extraordinary meeting chaired by the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, condemned the Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia, saying that the “antagonistic statements and rhetoric by Iran were a direct incitement to attack the Saudi missions”.
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In response, protesters in Iran stormed and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and consulate in the second city of Mashhad. Al-Nimr was a staunch critic of the Saudi government and demanded greater rights for the kingdom’s Shiite population, but always denied advocating violence. Bahrain and Sudan cut their ties, while the United Arab Emirates downgraded its relations and Kuwait recalled its ambassador to Tehran.
The tiny, Sunni-ruled island of Bahrain is predominantly Shiite.
“It is something that we do not foresee at all, and whoever is pushing towards that is somebody who is not in their right mind”, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi defense minister and 30-year-old son of King Salman, told The Economist magazine.
Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich – Gulf Islands), called on the government to release a report written in 2015 which assessed Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
This comes as tensions between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are rising following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shiite cleric last weekend.
The foreign minister called for unity to confront extremists and said Riyadh must make a “crucial choice” to either “continue supporting extremist terrorists” or “play a constructive role in promoting regional stability”.
For Iraq, which faced years of sectarian civil war, the hostilities between Iran and Saudi Arabia could once again foil Sunni-Shiite cooperation – and empower Islamic State.
Several Saudi allies have followed the kingdom’s lead and scaled back or cut diplomatic ties to Iran.
Asked about the diplomatic post attacks, Mohammed al-Nimr said it was “not acceptable”.
The Iranian authorities reacted to the execution of al-Nimr immediately.
However, many ultraconservatives of the Saudi Wahhabi school of Islam view Shiites as heretics.
Hundreds of people joined a Shia-led protest in Islamabad on Friday against the government’s decision to join Saudi Arabia’s 34-country coalition against extremism, as Riyadh’s foreign minister ended a two-day visit to the country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif holds a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim Al-Jaafari in Tehran.
FILE – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
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Saudi Arabia’s income has sharply declined as a result of the prolonged drop in oil prices – caused, in part, by the regime’s insistence on maintaining production levels – and the government has announced cutbacks in the lavish welfare spending that Saudis have long taken for granted.
