Protesters ransacked and set fire to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran Saturday after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric, Sheik Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, and 46 other people in a single day, which is likely to heighten sectarian tensions in the conflict-ridden Middle East.
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Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran early on Sunday morning as Shi’ite Muslim Iran reacted with fury to Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned Saudi Arabia’s mass execution, but also criticized protesters for damaging the property, vowing to identify and prosecute them.
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“We have received with much sorrow and regret the news of the martyrdom of a number of our brother believers in the region whose pure blood was shed in an unjust aggression”, Sistani said in a letter addressed to the population of Saudi Arabia’s eastern Qatif region where Nimr used to preach.
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The worldwide rights group, Amnesty global, said that the 47 executions demonstrated the Saudi authorities’ “utter disregard for human rights and life” and called Sheikh Nimr’s trial “political and grossly unfair”. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saudi Arabia’s “medieval act of savagery” in executing the cleric would lead to the “downfall” of the country’s monarchy.
The greatest criticism has come from Iran, directed specifically at the killing of 57-year-old Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. His death also strikes a sensitive chord for Saudi Shiites who claim they are discriminated against by authorities in the kingdom, where many ultraconservatives Sunnis view Shiites as heretics. He was sentenced to death on charges of inciting hatred and disobedience to the Saudi king in 2014.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry urged calm, while 40 demonstrators were arrested near the embassy.
Iran and Saudi Arabia summoned each other’s envoys for consultations, and Saudi allies Egypt and the United Arab Emirates summoned Iranian officials in their capitals over the Tehran embassy assault.
And the American State Department said the execution “risks exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be reduced”.
Across the region, protesters also took to the streets.
A statement by the Saudi ministry published by the state news agency SPA said the 47 had been convicted of adopting the radical “takfiri” ideology, joining “terrorist organizations” and implementing various “criminal plots”.
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Saudi Arabia carried out more than 150 executions last year, the highest figure recorded by human rights groups for 20 years.
