His comments came as Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that it was severing diplomatic relations with Iran amid escalating tensions over the cleric’s execution.
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Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Iran after embassy in Tehran attacked
A-Nemer’s execution prompted condemnations from Iranian officials and protests across the Shiite Muslim world. The executed cleric led a mosque in the predominantly Shiite eastern section of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iranian diplomatic personnel had 48 hours to leave his country and all Saudi diplomatic personnel in Iran had been called home.
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The dispute between the two nations probably will undermine already-stumbling efforts to end the war in Syria, where Saudi Arabia backs largely Sunni militants and Iran supports the regime of President Bashar Assad.
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Iranian officials have said the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would view such penalties as violating the nuclear accord. Two of the leading Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including its ranking member, Sen.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatoallah Ali Khameni, predicted “divine vengeance” would fall on Saudi Arabia after al-Nimr’s execution, and there were anti-Saudi protests as far afield as Pakistan over his death. “We urge Saudi Arabian authorities and local and regional leaders, including those in Iran, to work with all communities to defuse these tensions and promote reconciliation”, he said.
He added that all Saudi diplomats and staff have arrived in the UAE from Iran and are on their way to the Kingdom.
They pulled down the flag of Saudi Arabia from the building of the consulate and threw hand-made crackers, which caused fire in parts of the building, it said.
However, Saturday’s execution of a cleric whose death Iran had warned would “cost Saudi Arabia dearly”, and the storming of the kingdom’s Tehran embassy, raised the pitch of the rivalry.
Al-Nimr was killed along with 46 other accused terrorists, in a mass execution that took place behind closed doors.
Nader said Nimr’s execution showed that Saudi Arabia was as resolute as ever to confront what Gulf states call “Iran’s expansionist policy” in the region.
His body was not given to his family, and was buried along with those of the other executed men shortly after the execution.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani described the executions as an “unjust aggression”.
But Saudi Arabia’s Western allies, many of whom supply it with arms, are growing concerned about its new assertiveness.
In telephone conversations with some of his regional counterparts and UN Secretary-Genaral Ban Ki-moon, Zarif condemned the Saudi “inhuman action” of executing the cleric, saying that this was “in line with spreading discord and protecting extremism which has turned the world into the hell of bloodshed”, according to IRNA.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saudi Arabia’s “medieval act of savagery” would lead to the “downfall” of the country’s monarchy.
Across the region, demonstrators took to the streets Sunday in protest over the execution of al-Nimr.
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Riyadh denies torture and says its judiciary is independent.
