Although an Associated Press reporter in Sanaa said he saw no damage to the Iranian embassy there on Thursday, the provocation of a nearby strike was enough to prompt further retaliation from the Iranian government.
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Crisis in Saudi Arabia-Iran relations will invariably complicate the situation in other region’s countries, such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq, senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, James Dorsey believes.
A Houthi militant walks on the rubble of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said a rocket had fallen near the embassy, but on Thursday the building was still standing and there were no visible signs of damage.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran over the attacks on its diplomatic missions and Iran’s criticism of the execution, which Riyadh said amounted to meddling in its internal affairs.
The tensions put the Obama administration in an awkward position as it works for a closer relationship with Iran at the risk of alienating Saudi Arabia, one of its most trusted allies in the region. Saudi Arabia executed last Saturday, Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges, the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.
CNN reports that Saudi coalition spokesman Col. Ahmed Asseri said an investigation into the incident was necessary, adding that accusations are “not credible because we have not seen any evidence”.
The Houthis say they are fighting a revolution against a corrupt government and Gulf Arab powers beholden to the West. Almost 6,000 people have died in the nine-month conflict, nearly half of them civilians. Annual imports from Saudi Arabia – mainly packing materials and textiles – total about $60 million a year. It said the decision came during an emergency meeting of the cabinet of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
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Bahrain followed the lead of its close ally Saudi Arabia in severing ties to Iran and canceling flights this week in response to protester attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.
