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Iran bans imports from Saudi Arabia

Earlier, IRNA had said that shrapnel hit a wall of the embassy and injured several staff there.

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Iranian diplomats have left Saudi Arabia and returned to Tehran after the kingdom severed ties with the Islamic Republic.

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defence minister, reassured the world on Thursday the crisis would stop short of an all-out war between the Gulf region’s main powers.

Activists of Rah e Haq Party burn an effigy to represent Iran and the United States during a protest in Peshawar in the support of Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have spiralled since the execution of a Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.

The risks are real enough that they are perceived as a serious danger by the Saudi government, which continues to maintain a heavy security presence in the area, and they help explain why the confrontation between Riyadh and Tehran is so bitter and so personal.

Meanwhile, the “curfew” imposed by pro-Saudi forces in Aden doesn’t appear to be going well, as ISIS bombers attacked the city governor’s convoy in the city today, killing at least one, and according to some accounts two, of his bodyguards.

Since Saudi Arabia severed ties to Iran, a host of its allies have cut or reduced their ties as well.

“For the past two-and-a-half years, Saudi Arabia has opposed Iran’s diplomacy”, Zarif said at a joint press conference in Tehran with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari.

Iranians have rallied against Saudi Arabia to protest the kingdom putting to death Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an execution that sparked regional protests and tensions.

There are concerns new unrest could erupt.

On Tuesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused Saudi Arabia of focusing attention on the incident to “cover its crime” of executing Nimr. Soon after, other Sunni-ruled countries followed suit and also cut ties with Iran. “No, no to the embassy!” chanted the demonstrators who gathered on Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Baghdad, carrying the flags of the three most powerful Iranian-backed militias – Badr Organisation, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah.

However, many ultraconservatives of the Saudi Wahhabi school of Islam view Shiites as heretics.

Asked about the diplomatic post attacks, al-Nimr said it was “not acceptable”.

Even within Iraq, there could be backlash to attempts to work with Saudi Arabia. Iran’s annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about $60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir this week told Reuters Iran needed to decide if it was a normal nation state or “a revolution”.

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Iran is dominated by Muslim Shias while Saudi is led by rival Sunnis.

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