He criticised attacks on Saudi missions in Iran and he also criticized Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shia Muslim cleric, which triggered the dispute. But the royal families’ allies, beginning with the United States, should be asking whether the Salman court is consolidating control and checking Iran’s expansionism, as it contends, or sowing chaos in an already-stricken region while undermining itself. On the one hand, he argued, “Saudi Arabia is uniquely strong within Arab politics at the moment”, as evidenced by its strengthened partnerships with fellow Sunni powers that have joined Riyadh in the Yemen campaign and a new, “Islamic” anti-ISIL coalition that was announced last month.
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Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday.
Saudi Arabia cut ties to Iran after attacks on two of its diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic following al-Nimr’s execution.
But there were few signs of outreach.
Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood is to make an oral statement about Saudi Arabia to the House of Commons this afternoon.
“All parties (Iran and Saudi Arabia) should show restraint and start a dialogue to calm the situation”, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference in Tokyo, Sputnik reported on Tuesday.
In previous years, increased friction between OPEC giants would likely send oil sharply higher.
Many regional observers had expected Saudi-Iran tensions to boil over sooner or later.
“We reiterate the need for leaders throughout the region to redouble efforts aimed at de-escalating regional tensions”.
IRAQ’S SHIITE-LED GOVERNMENT – Al-Nimr’s execution sparked outrage among the country’s majority Shiites who have taken to the streets in Baghdad and the south, calling for an end to ties with Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities convicted Nimr of terror-related acts.
On a visit to east London on Monday he said: “S pecifically on Saudi Arabia let me be clear – we condemn and do not support the death penalty in any circumstances and that includes Saudi Arabia”.
This weekend, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran after the execution Saturday of al-Nimr, a prominent critic of the Saudi government.
The violence was condemned by Rouhani, and Iran’s judiciary has said 50 people involved in the incidents, including ringleaders, have been arrested and will face legal action. “The pattern has been that when one side escalates, the other escalates”. “We don’t want this to affect the political transition in Syria and the move to get the opposition groups at the table with (President Bashar al-)Assad’s regime….”
The United Nations dispatched its special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on an emergency mission to Riyadh and Tehran to see whether the peace talks between rival Syrian factions will be able to go ahead as scheduled January 25.
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Saudi’s General Authority for Civil Aviation said on Monday on Twitter that national carriers will take the necessary measures so as not to adversely impact passengers with advanced bookings.
