Riyadh has severed all ties with Tehran, withdrawn its diplomats and cut air links in response to weekend attacks on its missions in the Islamic republic.
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Saudi Arabia’s severance of diplomatic relations with Tehran will not hurt Iran or damage its development, the government spokesman said today.
The United Nations was working hard Monday to save fragile worldwide talks to end the conflicts in Yemen and Syria from a potential collapse because of the recent tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the execution of a Saudi Shiite cleric.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are on opposing ends of a range of crucial issues in the Middle East, including the war in Syria – where Tehran backs President Bashar Assad’s regime and Riyadh supports rebel forces – and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite insurgents.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has dedicated his first year on the throne to bold and sometimes reckless moves to shore up the royal family’s power both at home and overseas.
Hours after the death sentence was carried out, protesters in Shiite-majority Iran attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.
He says the “security of the kingdom is an integral part of Egypt’s security and Egypt’s security is an integral part of the kingdom’s security”.
In Iran, protesters responded by attacking the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have yet to make any formal announcement about how the diplomatic spat would affect the hajj, a pilgrimage to Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life.
“This is a reaction to their failures in Iraq, Syria, and…”
“We call for resolution of differences through peaceful means in the larger interest of Muslim unity in these challenging times”, the Pakistan foreign ministry said. Sudan also recalled its ambassador from Iran. “They are more likely than not to prevent this cold conflict from deteriorating into a hot one, while stepping up their proxy wars across the region”, said Ali Vaez, the senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.
While Iran and Saudi Arabia have long had sour relations, they maintained diplomatic representation in one another’s countries.
Internal disagreements could explain why Saudi Arabia made a decision to conduct an execution that was sure to spark sharp rebuke from Iran and global parties critical of the Saudi justice system and wary of further tension in the region.
Secretary-General Ban phoned Saudi Foreign Minister Abel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to urge them to “avoid any actions that could further exacerbate the situation”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Trade between Saudi Arabia and Iran is small compared with the size of their economies, but some business is routed through the United Arab Emirates; comprehensive figures are not available.
The “historic low” reached in the relations between the two OPEC powers are actually likely to lead Saudi Arabia to “dig in its heels to keep output at or even above current levels”, Barclays wrote in a research report. De Mistura has set a January 25 target date for a fourth round of talks.
“Unfortunately, I think the repercussions of the Iranian-Saudi tension will increase, which will reflect on the Syrian crisis, because Syria has become a stage for regional conflicts”.
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Meanwhile, Iraq’s civil war had poured fuel on growing sectarian tensions as al Qaeda, which follows an extreme form of Salafism, sent suicide bombers against Shi’ite civilians, prompting murderous retaliation from Iran-linked militias.
