Turkey said on Thursday it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest attacks on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Iranian press in the wake of a diplomatic crisis between Tehran and Riyadh.
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The incident follows Saturday’s mass execution in Saudi Arabia of 47 people, among them prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, on terrorism charges.
Iran has slammed Saudi Arabia for carrying out airstrikes against the Iranian embassy in Yemen saying that the attack has left scores of guards injured and that the diplomatic building had faced major damages.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran after its embassy in Tehran was attacked by protesters. Kuwait, Bahrain and Sudan have also recalled their ambassadors from the Islamic Republic.
But it and the few other Saudi companies doing business in Iran faced increasing public pressure over the course of the week, as consumer and business groups called for boycotts of Iranian products.
In a report that accused Saudi forces of breaching the rules of war on 30 occasions in Yemen, David Mepham, director of Human Rights Watch UK, said London’s failure to condemn Riyadh was “deeply regrettable and unacceptable”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaberi Ansari slammed the Saudi Government for the Yemen provocation. Iran’s annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about $60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles.
But analysts say the incident could ultimately backfire on his foes ahead of Iranian parliamentary elections next month, giving the moderate Rouhani ammunition as he confronts conservatives and works to restore his country s worldwide reputation. He said that the people living in Saudi Arabia can not do that.
The furore over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shi’ite cleric has depressed the market as it put an end to speculation that OPEC members could agree on production cuts to lift prices.
Jafari, the Iraqi foreign minister, said the country would work to “alleviate tensions”. Some 500,000 Iranians visit Saudi Arabia every year, many of whom are making the “lesser” pilgrimage or umrah to Mecca and Medina, which can be made at any time of the year. Al-Nimr’s brother, as well as another local resident of al-Awamiya in eastern Saudi Arabia, said they’ve heard gunfire on recent nights. Speaking alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, al- Jaafari said Iraq’s place in the heart of the Middle East allows it to play a role in trying to “alleviate tensions”. Back in Iraq, however, thousands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen marched in Baghdad and across the south to protest the execution of al-Nimr.
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He added Saudi Arabia’s move to sever diplomatic ties between the two countries would impair regional stability.
