Iran on Thursday accused Saudi warplanes of deliberately bombing its embassy in Yemen, in a new escalation of diplomatic tensions that have reverberated across the Middle East.
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Ibrahim al-Jaafari was speaking on Wednesday in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who appeared to indicate that Tehran was open to resolving the stand-off. “Saudi Arabia is responsible for the damage to the embassy building and the injury to some of its staff”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said on January 7.
The execution of activist Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others sparked protests across the world, including an attack on the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran.
The sultanate is known for its historically strong ties with Iran but is also a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait on Tuesday recalled its ambassador to Iran and strongly condemned the “hostile acts” against the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
Salami called Riyadh’s decision to cut ties with Iran “irrational and hateful” and said the violence in Iraq and Syria were “the direct results of Saudi’s sectarian policies in the region”.
Somalia joins Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Bahrain in cutting ties to Iran amid the crisis.
“All Iranian officials condemn it”, he added.
In eastern Saudi Arabia, where al-Nimr agitated for greater political rights for Shiites in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, three days of mourning over his death were to end Wednesday night.
The Saudis are leading military action in Yemen against Iran-backed Shia rebels who are now in control of large parts of the country.
Annual imports from Saudi Arabia total about $60 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles. Because a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is the beginning of a major catastrophe in the region….
Zarif, meanwhile, blamed Saudi Arabia for exacerbating the situation. There have been fears the current tensions could derail peace efforts in the two conflict zones, where Saudi Arabia and Iran are backing opposing sides.
Iran supports the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, while Saudi Arabia supports rebel fighters in Syria. Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced it was severing relations with Iran because of the assaults.
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While Riyadh sees the Houthis as a proxy for bitter regional rival Iran to expand its influence, the Houthis deny this and say they are fighting a revolution against a corrupt government and Gulf Arab powers beholden to the West.
