Saudi coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said their jets carried out heavy strikes in Sanaa on Wednesday night, targeting missile launchers used by the Houthi militia against Saudi Arabia. He told Reuters a Sanaa resident went to the embassy Thursday and reported no damage.
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A Foreign Ministry statement released late Thursday says Turkey protested reports suggesting that the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was linked to Erdogan’s recent visit to Riyadh.
Also Wednesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani wrote a letter to Iran’s head of Judiciary-calling for an urgent investigation into the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions, saying the perpetrators must be “brought to justice”.
A Saudi-led coalition has waged an air war on Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March and the impoverished nation’s conflict is one of the main sources of dispute between the two regional adversaries. Officials in Iran deny direct links to the rebels, but have strongly denounced the Saudi-directed airstrikes and other attacks in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s hard-line policy is the result of urgent concern that if Iran resumes exporting crude oil, the current low oil prices could sink further and the deterioration of Saudi Arabia’s fiscal condition would accelerate.
His government has maintained its criticism of Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, which sparked the angry protests at the Tehran embassy and Riyadh’s consulate in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
Shortly after the unrest, Saudi Arabia quickly severed diplomatic ties with Iran.
A Houthi militant carries computer component out of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday, January 2, that it has executed 47 prisoners including Sheikh Nimr.
China has also reacted to the Saudi-Iran face when it declared itself “highly concerned” with the developments, in what is considered a rare foray into Middle East diplomacy. The United Arab Emirates downgraded relations with Iran, while Kuwait and Qatar recalled ambassadors.
Iran’s government on Thursday banned all imports of products made in Saudi Arabia, according to student news agency ISNA.
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Lifting of sanctions against Iran by the United States and European countries, based on the nuclear agreement, is expected to start as early as this month. 96 million a year and consisted mostly of packing materials and textiles.
