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.
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Wilson said several men were “openly carrying assault weapons”, including one with an AR-15 who denied him entry to the grounds. The two men were convicted of arson for setting fires on their property that spread to the adjacent Malheur wildlife refuge.
The move comes after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, ransacking and setting fire to the building in retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric and 46 others on Saturday.
Iran, Saudi Arabia Trade Verbal Barbs After Execution Of Shiite Cleric
Dion says Canada is urging authorities and leaders in Saudi Arabia and Iran to work to defuse tensions and promote reconciliation. Aimen Dean, a Saudi analyst who now runs a political consultancy based in Dubai, says Nimr was never a “top-tier” Shia cleric.
Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr was from Awamiyah, a poor town surrounded by palm groves in eastern Saudi Arabia and known for opposition to the monarchy.
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Unfortunately the weather looks set to play a key part in the outcome, with up to 40 mm expected today, and more rain tomorrow. Brathwaite retreated to his end and Samuels was stranded by Hazlewood’s throw to the striker’s end.
As protests erupt around the world and tensions rise between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Calgarian Riyaz Khawaja said he was saddened by news of the execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. “The only thing he did was public criticism”.
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that the Saudi government will pay a “heavy price” for “this shameful act” which it said was a sign of “decay” of Saudi rulers.
In 2012, Saudi Arabia accused al-Nimr of fleeing authorities, ramming a security forces vehicle and resisting arrest.
Al-Nimr was convicted of terrorism charges but denied ever advocating violence. The Iranian regime could encourage large-scale demonstrations among the Shiite majorities of eastern Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, increase their support of Houthi rebels in Yemen, or apply economic pressure by releasing vast quantities of cheap oil once worldwide sanctions are further relaxed.
The others were Shiite activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks, with some beheaded and others shot by firing squad.
In Tehran, the crowd gathered outside the Saudi Embassy early Sunday and chanted anti-Saudi slogans.
At a press conference in Riyadh, Jubeir said that during Saturday’s protests in Tehran, the Saudi diplomatic representative there asked for help from the Iranian foreign ministry, but the requests were disregarded three times.
The Washington Post reports that protests have already been underway in Iraq as well, where Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is calling for people to demonstrate in Baghdad outside the newly reopened Saudi embassy – which protesters and some Iraqi politicians are now saying should be closed in response to al-Nimr’s execution.
He branded the demonstrators “radicals” and said the assaults were “totally unjustifiable”.
Relatives of Nimr, reached by telephone, said authorities had informed them that the body had been buried “in a cemetery of Muslims” and would not be handed over to the family.
He said the blood of Sheikh Nimr would “plague the Al Saud [family] until the Day of Resurrection”, prompting cries of “Death to the Al Saud!” among an audience watching his address.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein said it was not clear those killed were granted effective legal defence, while the scale of the executions was very disturbing “particularly as some of those sentenced to death were accused of non-violent crimes”.
Al-Nimr’s execution could also antagonize the Shiite-led government in Iraq, which has close relations with Tehran.
Meanwhile a small group of seminary students protested the cleric’s execution in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran on January 2, Iranian domestic media reported. “Repression does not last”.
“We have discussed with the authorities in Riyadh, and expect that Ali Al-Nimr and others who were convicted as juveniles will not be executed”.
France has denounced Saudi Arabia’s record execution spree of 47 people, saying the move could spark fresh sectarian tensions in the Middle East.
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As tensions threatened to spill over on Sunday night (3 December), Riyadh took the decision to sever diplomatic ties with its Shia rival and ordered Iranian diplomatic personnel to leave within 48 hours. That attack by a gang outside of the home of a suspected al-Qaida militant killed 36-year-old Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers.
