Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran after an attack on its embassy in Tehran on Sunday following the kingdom’s execution of Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 mostly Sunni Muslims convicted on terrorism charges.
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Iran is working on a report to the UN Security Council over Saudi Arabia’s air raid against the Iranian embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said.
Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are already soaring after the Saudi execution of a top Shi’ite cleric over the weekend.
He said the coalition would investigate Iran’s accusation and that the Houthis have been using civilian facilities including abandoned embassies. Ansari added: “This deliberate attempt by the Saudi government is in violation of all the conventions and regulation of worldwide law on the protection and the security of diplomatic premises in all situations, and the responsibility for the action, as well as compensation for damage done to the building and injuries to the embassy staff, lies with the government of Saudi Arabia”.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran could be days away from fulfilling its end of that deal, which compels Tehran to scale back technology that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
A protest Friday in Bahrain saw hundreds of the country’s majority Shiites marching to denounce Saudi Arabia for al-Nimr’s execution.
Iran also announced that a ban on Iranians travelling to the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the year-round minor pilgrimage, known as the umrah, would remain in place indefinitely.
The Saudi military said it intercepted the missile in the province of Jizan and later attacked and destroyed the platform that launched the missile in Yemen, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Arabia’s hard-line policy is the result of urgent concern that if Iran resumes exporting crude oil, the current low oil prices could sink further and the deterioration of Saudi Arabia’s fiscal condition would accelerate. The United Arab Emirates also downgraded relations with Iran while Kuwait and Qatar recalled their ambassadors. Shiites across the greater Mideast have rallied throughout the week over al-Nimr’s execution.
Since Saudi Arabia severed ties to Iran, a host of its allies have cut or reduced their ties as well.
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The decision was taken during a meeting of Iran’s cabinet ministers headed by President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, the report stated.
