Saudi jets “deliberately” struck Iran’s embassy in Yemen in an air raid that wounded staff, Tehran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, as tensions between the two regional powers mounted.
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A spokesman for the Saudi coalition said the bombing was meant to target Houthi missile launchers and that they would investigate the claim. The Yemeni capital is held by Shia rebels known as Houthis.
Residents and witnesses in the capital Sanaa said there was no damage to the embassy building in the district of Hadda.
But the Iranian foreign minister insists in a letter to the United Nations that Tehran doesn’t seek to escalate tension.
The protests that culminated in the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Teheran followed the execution of an outspoken Shi’ite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and 46 others in 12 prisons across Saudi Arabia.
“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 visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
“Although protest is a civil right, an assault on an embassy and infringing commitments can damage the image of the Islamic republic”, he said. 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.
The president also said that attacks on Saudi missions on Sunday, by angry protesters in Iran who were outraged that the executed included prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, were “unacceptable”. Saudi Arabia returned Iran’s diplomats in Riyadh and Jeddah to their home country on Wednesday.
Iran has banned the import of goods from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom cut diplomatic ties over attacks on the Saudi embassy following the execution of a Shiite cleric.
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In a development that could further strain relations, Saudi media reported today that four Iranians would go on trial in the kingdom, one for spying and the other three for “terrorism”.
