Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday Saudi Arabia could not hide its “crime” of executing a Shi’ite cleric by cutting ties with Tehran, but Iranian authorities disowned an attack on the Saudi embassy in Iran.
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An angry mob broke into the embassy on Saturday night and started fires following protests against the kingdom’s execution of cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent critic of Saudi policy, and three other Shi’ite Muslims as well as 43 Sunni al Qaeda jihadists. Bahrain, Sudan, and Kuwait have also scaled back diplomatic relations with Iran in solidarity.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran over the attacks on its diplomatic missions and Iran’s criticism of the execution, which Riyadh said amounted to meddling in its internal affairs.
Iran announced on Thursday that it has imposed a total ban on imports on any product which is originated in Saudi Arabia until a further notice.
Its ruler, Sultan Qaboos, orchestrated secret US-Iran contacts that began in Muscat in 2012, leading to the first formal talks between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, paving the way for July’s nuclear deal.
“Cordial relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are beneficial to the whole region”, Jaafari said, and Iraq can not remain silent in the face of such a rift.
Oil prices have fallen by more than 60% since mid-2014 as OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia refuses to lower production in a bid to push competitors out of the market, hurting the income of other producers, including Iran.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB said a plane carrying 54 Iranian diplomats and their families had landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.
It made the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The poster behind the men shows Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim Suwaymil a young Saudi Shiite who was executed at the same time as al-Nimr.
Russian Federation also has offered itself as a potential mediator, though it’s unclear whether Saudi or Iranian officials have responded to the proposal. 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.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are on opposing sides in some of the Middle East’s worst conflicts.
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has a Sunni-ruled monarchy but a Shiite majority.
On the one hand, Shiite Iran has been expanding its influence in Iraq and Yemen while trying to keep its influence in Syria intact through the support of the Syrian government.
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The IRGC promised “harsh revenge” against the Saudi royal dynasty for Nimr’s death, saying it would “cost Saudi Arabia dearly”.
