Also on Monday, Bahrain and Sudan announced they were cutting off diplomatic relations with Iran following the storming of Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran, while the United Arab Emirates said it was reducing the number of Iranian diplomats in the country.
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Saudi Arabia announced its dissolution of diplomatic ties with Iran Sunday, requesting all Iranian diplomats depart the country within 48 hours.
The Gulf states – especially Bahrain – have long-accused Tehran of meddling in their affairs.
The envoy said Saudi Arabia will attend the next round of Syria talks, but he also took a swipe at Iran’s role in the diplomatic push to end the war in Syria.
And the United Arab Emirates recalls its ambassador from Tehran as the crisis between rival Sunni and Shiite powers draws worldwide expressions of alarm.
An Iranian protester holds a picture of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration against his execution in Saudi Arabia, at Imam Hussein Square in Tehran, Iran, on January 4.
After listing the crimes of 43 al-Qaeda members also put to death on Saturday alongside four Shia, Jubeir said of the executions, “We should be applauded for this, not criticised”.
In Africa, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said Khartoum was cutting off relations with Iran “in solidarity with the sister kingdom of Saudi Arabia in confronting the Iranian plans”.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Saudi Arabia harshly for the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr, describing the late cleric as a peaceful “martyr”, and predicted “divine vengeance” for the execution of al-Nimr, an outspoken opponent of the ruling Al Saud family. The statement carried by its state-run news agency said it made the decision in “solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of Iranian schemes”.
The fallout in the Muslim world over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shiite cleric is only getting worse.
“We have seen a lot of volatility and instability in the Middle East has a tendency to break down along sectarian lines”. According to U.S. officials, the two planned to murder Al-Jubeir at a restaurant with a bomb, after which they would make an attempt to detonate a bomb at the Saudi embassy and the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.
Robert Jordan is former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Diplomat-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University, and author of “Desert Diplomat: Inside Saudi Arabia Following 9/11”. Protesters in Tehran then ransacked and fire-bombed the Saudi embassy – and on Sunday, Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly stopping all flights to and from Iran – and banning its citizens from travelling there.
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In a statement, the UAE said it would be downgrading its diplomacy to only focus on business relationships between the Gulf federation and Iran due to “Iran’s continued interference in the Gulf and Arab countries internal affairs”.
