That prompted Saudi Arabia to cut diplomatic ties with Iran and the kingdom’s allies lined up behind it, either cutting or reducing their relations with Tehran. Iranian protesters, angered by the execution, later attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and a consulate in Mashhad.
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Saudi Arabia’s influence over Sunni tribes in the vast neighbouring Iraqi province of Anbar has dwindled, said Ayham Kamel, Middle East and North Africa director at Eurasia Group.
A protest Friday in Bahrain saw hundreds of the country’s majority Shiites marching to denounce Saudi Arabia for al-Nimr’s execution.
The assaults on its missions prompted Riyadh on Sunday to break off diplomatic ties with Iran and order its diplomats to leave the kingdom.
In a cabinet meeting chaired by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, Tehran banned all imports from Saudi Arabia. Saudi allies Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit and the United Arab Emirates downgraded its ties with Tehran.
Wednesday’s remarks from Oman were its first over the ongoing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began with the kingdom’s execution of Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr.
Saudi Arabia supports the city dominated opposition…in Syria and it seeks to housed Syrian president the child son… meanwhile Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah support the Assad regime of money weapons and soldiers… if you are is also back opposing sides of the conflicts in Yemen… It wasn’t a funeral, as the sheikh’s brother has said Saudi authorities had already buried his body in an undisclosed cemetery.
There are concerns new unrest could erupt.
Nimr, one of 47 men executed on Saturday, was a driving force behind 2011 anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
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The protesters in the town of Sitra, south of the Bahraini capital of Manama, chanted slogans against the government, which is allied with Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy. “They are reviewing a crime, and a procedure, and a trial, and a sentence and carrying out the sentence”. He said further details would come in a note to the United Nations. Iran’s annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about $60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles. Pakistan, which is a predominantly Sunni Muslim state but has a large Shiite minority, has expressed hope that Saudi Arabia and Iran will be able to normalize their relations.
