“A large number of important states have lined up to expanding relations with us”.
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As good friends of both Saudi Arabia and Iran, Retno said that Indonesia would continue all necessary efforts to prevent the situation from worsening.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, speaks during the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, NY, USA, 25 September 2014.
In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2016 file photo, followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn an effigy of King Salman of Saudi Arabia as they hold posters of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq.
Human rights organizations accused Riyadh of “persistently implementing repressive policies that stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly”.
The last time Saudi Arabia broke off ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters in 1988, it took a swing in the regional power balance in the form of Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait to heal the rift.
But analysts said fears of a sectarian rupture across the Middle East were premature, and the break in Saudi-Iran relations could be more a symptom of existing strains than evidence of new ones.
When asked what it would take for ties to be restored, Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi told reporters: “Very simple – Iran to cease and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, including our own”.
Tension between Shi’ite-majority Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia has spiralled since the execution of a Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Washington’s single-minded pursuit of the Iran nuclear deal damaged its alliance with Saudi Arabia, experts say, and fed the escalating crisis in the Gulf. A vocal opponent of the Saudi royal family, al-Nimr was seen by Shiites in the region as a political dissident, although he always contended he did not foment violence.
Since Saudi Arabia severed ties to Iran, a host of its allies have cut or reduced their ties as well.
Several allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead and on Monday scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran.
Saudi Arabia cut ties to Iran after attacks on two of its diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic following al-Nimr’s execution. The protesters, supporters of prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, chanted that al-Nimr’s blood had not been spilled in vain and that the Mahdi Army, Sadr’s disbanded Shiite militia, would avenge his death if needed.
He had been charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security.
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One of the officials of embassy recounted the horror he experienced on the day, when mob attacked the embassy in Tehran, set it on fire and stolen property.
