The British Government left Saudi Arabia off a list of thirty countries to be challenged by diplomats over their continued use of the death penalty – despite executing over 90 people a year.
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“Russia is ready to support such efforts”, the statement said, adding that “Moscow is deeply concerned by the latest escalation of the situation in the Middle East caused by the major regional powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran”. The match that lit the flame was Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
On Monday, Bahrain and Sudan announced severing of relations with Iran citing Tehran’s intervention in Arab affairs.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency elaborated that “Kuwait sharply condemns attacks by Iranian demonstrators on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad, an official source at Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday”.
He also didn’t rule out that a number of other countries, protecting their own interests, may take part in a possible open military conflict that can arise as a result of the crisis in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. While backing Saudi Arabia, it may have chosen to reduce – rather than completely sever ties – because of a long trading history with Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to break off ties with Iran is an appropriate response to Iran’s failure to meet its worldwide obligations.
Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, while Iran is also a key member, and there are concerns that their diplomatic spat could lead to a disruption in oil supplies. The Shiite-led government has warmed Riyadh that such executions “would lead to nothing but more destruction”.
Bilateral trade between Iran and Saudi Arabia reached Dollars 172.5 million during the first eight months of the Iranian year that began on March 20, 2015. In Bahrain, tensions between the Sunni government and the Shiite majority population grew to such an extent that the government used water cannons to control the crowds in the capital.
THE ARAB LEAGUE: The body denounced the attacks on the diplomatic missions and reminded Iran of the importance of “not interfering in the internal affairs of an Arab nation”, according to a statement carried by Egypt’s official MENA news agency.
These proxy wars have cost hundreds of thousands of lives, especially in Syria, where more than 250,000 have been killed since the March 2011 uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Jubeir said that the cleric and the 46 others executed had received open and fair trials that had been through the courts of appeal and reviewed by the Saudi Supreme Court. Shi’ite Iran hailed him as a “martyr” and warned Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family of “divine revenge”.
Washington and other Western powers have called for calm amid fears the dispute could raise sectarian tensions across West Asia and derail efforts to resolve conflicts from Syria to Yemen.
“The recent tensions that impacted the region negatively will not affect… the operations that the United Nations carries out alongside the global community to achieve a political solution in Geneva soon”.
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Since the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, where Saudi Arabia backed Sunni insurgents while Iran supported the Shiite government and Shiite militias, Sunni Arab leaders in the region have been concerned about Iran’s ambitions.
