It said it would reduce the number of diplomats in Iran and would recall its ambassador “in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels”. Also, with Saudi diplomatic missions closed in Iran, it will make it hard for Iranians to get visas for the hajj.
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On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced his country was cutting diplomatic relations with Iran.
There are fears sectarian strife may spread in the region following the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others in Saudi Arabia on Saturday after they were convicted of terror-related offences.
Seibert told reporters in Berlin on Monday that “relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are of fundamental importance for solving the crises in Syria and Yemen, and for the stability of the entire region”.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Saudi Arabia on Sunday of “divine revenge” over al-Nimr’s death, while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting “terrorism” in a war of words that threatened to escalate even as the USA and the European Union sought to calm the region.
Arab states have lined up with the kingdom, including Bahrain, Sudan and United Arab Emirates, in severing or scaling back ties with Iran.
Share markets were also rattled by rising tensions after Saudi Arabia executed a Shia cleric, and the price of gold rose 1 percent.
Saudi Arabia previously severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991 over hajj rioting in 1987 and Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister says Saudi Arabia’s decision to severe diplomatic relations can not cover up Riyadh’s “strategic mistake” in killing a prominent Shiite cleric. A USA official said Kerry had spoken on Sunday with the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to gauge any impact Saudi-Iranian developments might have on the planned January 25 start of negotiations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari also said Monday that Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr over the weekend was an example of this.
Growing tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran caused oil prices to jump in the first trading session of 2016, an early sign of how the unstable political situation in the Middle East could complicate the outlook for oil prices in 2016.
Nimr, who was in his late 50s, was a vocal critic of the Saudi government and was considered a central figure in 2011 protests that erupted as part of the Arab Spring.
Of particular concern, USA officials said, are military operations against Islamic State extremists in Iraq that are being conducted by Iraqi security forces, which answer to an Iran-friendly government, and Sunni and Shiite militias.
Iran supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces, backed also by Russian Federation, are fighting against an array of insurgent groups including rebels backed by Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.
Iran Nuclear Deal: The early signs on the deal between Iran and six world powers have been mostly positive.
Shia protest the execution of al-Nimr in the coastal Qatif province.
“The United States has succeed in leading the worldwide effort to bring all sides together to try and bring about a political resolution inside Syria”, he noted.
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Nimr’s brother issued a statement calling for the corpse of Nimr to be handed over to his family.
