The Saudi move came as hundreds of Iranians protested against the kingdom’s Saturday execution of Nemer-al-Nemer, a prominent Shiite cleric.
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“It will harm both countries and the region if Saudi Arabia and Iran act in a hostile attitude towards each other”, he told reporters.
For hard-liners who detest Mr. Rouhani and his bid to open up Iran, the attack on the embassy was a win-win: They gave Saudi Arabia a public bloody nose, while at the same time undermining their centrist president’s attempts to calm tensions with long-standing rivals.
The report by the RIA Novosti news agency on Monday quoted the diplomat as saying that Russian Federation has developed good relations with both countries through the so-called Vienna group, which is working on a resolution of the Syria conflict, and that he hoped that could help resolve the Tehran-Riyadh dispute. Saudi officials have responded forcefully to those who say there is “no difference” between their legal system and that of the Islamic State by emphasizing their processes rather than their punishments.
An editorial published by the Wall Street Journal approvingly quoted Joseph Braude of the Foreign Policy Research Institute claiming that Nimr was a violent extremist who advocated a “military option” against Saudi Arabia.
The leadership of the Labour party, under Jeremy Corbyn, has been increasingly critical of Britain’s links with Saudi Arabia.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Saudi foreign minister on Monday that Riyadh’s decision to break off diplomatic ties with Iran was extremely troubling. “It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message”, said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University.
Boiling tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia risk dooming fragile, painstaking efforts to negotiate a Syrian peace deal as the fallout from the Saudis’ execution of a Shi’ite cleric spreads across the region.
“Regarding the executions in Saudi Arabia, we continue to urge the government of Saudi Arabia to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings in all cases, and we have expressed our particular concern over the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr”, he said. Mr Shobokshi said Saudi authorities refrained from executing them until now to gain information about Al Qaeda’s network.
Shi’ite protesters carry posters of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration outside the Saudi embassy in Sanaa.
“Are Iran and Saudi Arabia competitors?”
But tensions between the region’s Sunni Arab powers and Iran have also soared since worldwide powers reached the Obama administration-backed nuclear deal with Tehran.
Jenkins said the Saudis would argue that most of those executed on Saturday had taken up arms against the state, had called for the secession of the eastern province, or had disclaimed loyalty to the Saudi state.
After cutting ties with Tehran on Sunday, Saudi announced yesterday it was barring all travel by its citizens to Iran, suspending air travel and ending commercial relations. “In my view, it speaks more about the local dynamics in Saudi Arabia itself that are shifting steadily away from the ruling family’s control”. The Secretariat also affirmed its adherence to the OIC charter rejecting any interference into internal affairs of any country.
Simmering animosity developed into an open diplomatic crisis after the Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions were attacked and set on fire early on Sunday morning following the kingdom’s execution of several dozen prisoners, mostly Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda, but including Nimr Al Nimr, a Shiite leader from the east of the country.
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Despite their countless global feuds, it was the first time since a two-year break in 1988-1990 that diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia had formally been severed, according to Abdullah al-Shamri, a Saudi analyst and former diplomat.
