Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday night launched a rocket attack on the Iranian embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, which incurred damages to the building and wounded several Iranian guards.
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Brushing aside the Iranian apology, Saudi Arabia’s UN Ambassador Abdullah al-Mouallimi tied the normalization of his country’s relations with Iran to the latter’s future conduct.
A spokesperson for the Saudi-led Sunni coalition conducting a military intervention in Yemen against anti-government Shia rebels known as the Houthis said there would be an investigation.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran on Sunday after Iranian protesters stormed the embassy in Tehran.
The diplomatic standoff between Iran and Saudi Arabia began on Saturday, when the kingdom executed al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges – the largest mass execution it has carried out since 1980.
Iranian protesters set fires at the Saudi embassy in Tehran following the execution of Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric whose death sparked an outcry across much of the Shiite Muslim world.
Also yesterday, Iran banned all products from Saudi Arabia and said a ban on Iranians travelling to the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the umrah pilgrimage will remain in place “until further notice”. Iran’s annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about US$60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles.
The Saudi-led coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said the accusations would be investigated and explained that the coalition had conducted heavy airstrikes against Houthi militants’ missile launchers.
“We strongly condemn our president being directly targeted in certain articles in Iranian outlets controlled by the Iranian authorities… and demand that these articles cease immediately”, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The diplomat reaffirmed Cairo’s backing for Saudi Arabia in the run-up to an Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting that is due to discuss the dispute.
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended a joint press conference in Tehran with Iraqi foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in which he said Riyadh must end what he called its prolonged efforts to confront Iran.
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The Saudi-led coalition denied the claims. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has responded in kind by backing Sunni forces throughout the region.
