Despite their countless global feuds, it was the first time since a two-year break from 1988 to 1990 that diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia had formally been severed, according to Abdullah al-Shamri, a Saudi analyst and former diplomat.
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The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday that staff at the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh and the Iranian Consulate in Jiddah had left the country.
Both powers increasingly see their rivalry as a winner-take-all conflict and Saudi Arabia has rushed to shore up its allies in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and wherever else it fears Iran’s influence. He said that there is no justification for Saudi’s behaviour as though he was a spokesman for a peaceful country like Scandinavia despite the Saudi embassy burning in front of the eyes of Iranian police who were content to observe.
The A330 and A320 have a capacity of up to 335 and 220 passengers respectively in a two-class configuration.
The Saudi regime said Saturday it had executed Sheikh Nimr along with 46 others, causing worldwide outrage and a serious escalation of diplomatic tensions in the region.
It remains unclear how the increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran will ultimately affect other regional issues where the US has a stake. GACA did not clarify which national carriers would be included or what these measures would entail.
Nimr was among 47 people put to death on the biggest single day of executions in Saudi Arabia since 1980, but he was only one of four Shiite Muslims among the group – and by far the best known. “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.
Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran, following Riyadh’s example.
The death of the cleric sparked outrage in Iran, as mobs attacked the Saudi embassy there, followed by Saudi Arabia cutting off diplomatic relatations. “The Saudi-US defence relationship is a juggernaut”, said Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.
The spike in tensions comes after Iran a year ago secured a historic nuclear deal with world powers led by the United States, sparking major concern in longtime U.S. ally Riyadh.
The syndicate banker said: “The back and forth between the countries is going to continue happening, but investors have been in the region for a while and know that it will settle”.
Turkey’s government has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to calm their diplomatic row, saying the dispute will only worsen regional tensions.
The nature and location of the violence was reminiscent of some of the darkest moments of the civil war in Shiite-majority Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
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Also of concern is the state of the Syrian peace effort, which is supposed to swing into high gear in late January with U.N.-sponsored negotiations between Saudi-backed opposition forces and the Iran-supported government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
