SAUDI ARABIA CUT TIES WITH IRAN.

Saudi Arabia cuts
diplomatic ties with Iran
after execution of cleric
Riyadh gives Iranian diplomats 48
hours to leave after two days of protest
and the burning of the Saudi embassy
in Tehran follow death of Shia cleric
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr
More news Topics Saudi Arabia Iran
Middle East and North Africa Islam
Religion More… Pakistan
Hassan Rouhani Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Ban Ki-moon King Salman
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-
Jubeir speaks during a press conference in
Riyadh. Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties
with Iran.
Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic
relations with Iran in a sharp escalation
of tensions between the two regional
foes following the execution of the
Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
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tension in Iran's court
The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-
Jubeir, told a news conference that
Iran’s diplomatic mission and related
entities in Saudi Arabia had been given
48 hours to leave. He said Riyadh would
not allow the Islamic republic to
undermine the Sunni kingdom’s
security.
The move on Sunday evening comes
after two days of outrage among Shia
communities across the Middle East and
in south Asia at the death of Nimr, a
prominent critic of the Saudi and
Bahraini monarchies, whose cause as a
prisoner since 2012 had been
championed by Tehran and the United
Nations. It signals a further hardening
of Riyadh’s position towards Iran, with
which it is locked in a bitter battle for
regional influence.
Speaking on Iranian state television,
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-
Abdollahian said in Tehran’s first
response that by cutting diplomatic ties,
Riyadh could not cover up “its major
mistake of executing Sheikh Nimr”.
The United States, Saudi Arabia’s biggest
backer in the west, responded to the
cutting of ties by encouraging
diplomatic engagement and calling for
leaders in the region to take
“affirmative steps” to reduce tensions.
“We believe that diplomatic engagement
and direct conversations remain
essential in working through differences
and we will continue to urge leaders
across the region to take affirmative
steps to calm tensions,” an official of
Barack Obama’s administration said.
Muslim leaders stepped up their
condemnation of the execution of Nimr
at the weekend, urging a robust
response from Riyadh’s western
backers, as protests spread to Pakistan
and Indian Kashmir.
Anger remained palpable on the streets
of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and in
Bahrain and Baghdad, hours after the
Saudi embassy in Tehran was set ablaze
by protesters angered by the execution
of the senior cleric. Small protests were
also held in Islamabad and Quetta,
home to members of Pakistan’s Shia
minority.
However, in what appeared to be a
move to calm tension, the Iranian
president, Hassan Rouhani , said the
attack on the Saudi embassy was
unjustifiable, and urged the capture of
the perpetrators. “I have no doubt that
the Saudi government has damaged its
image, more than before, among the
countries in the world, in particular
[among] Islamic countries, by this
unIslamic act,” Rouhani said.
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In a cautionary tone, he added that
“rogue elements” would not be allowed
to use the incident and “carry out illegal
actions that damage the dignity” of the
Islamic republic. “I call on the interior
minister to identify the perpetrators of
this attack ... so there will be an end to
such appalling actions once and for all,”
Rouhani said.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei , called on Saudi’s western
backers to condemn the execution,
which came three years after Nimr’s
arrest over his vocal support for anti-
government protests in Bahrain and in
Riyadh.
“This oppressed cleric did not encourage
people to join an armed movement, nor
did he engage in secret plotting, and he
only voiced public criticism ... based on
religious fervour,” said Khamenei.
The Iranian leader criticised “the
silence of the supposed backers of
freedom, democracy and human rights”
over the execution. “Why are those who
claim to support human rights quiet?
Why do those who claim to back
freedom and democracy support this
government?”
The UK’s Treasury secretary, David
Gauke, became the most senior UK
figure to react to the execution,
claiming al-Nimr’s death was a
worrying development. The US state
department earlier said the move risked
“exacerbating sectarian tensions at a
time when they urgently need to be
reduced”.
Pressed on the development, Gauke
repeated a government line that Riyadh
had passed on information that had
been critical to stopping terror plots in
the UK. “We have a relationship with
Saudi Arabia where we are able to
speak candidly to them, where these
issues are raised on a regular basis by
the foreign secretary and the prime
minister and our representatives in
Riyadh,” he said. “We are able to have
that relationship where we can tell them
what we think and clearly it is a
worrying development.”
The execution took place despite pleas
for clemency delivered personally by
the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon .
“Sheikh Nimr and a number of the
other prisoners executed had been
convicted following trials that raised
serious concerns over the nature of the
charges and the fairness of the process,”
Ban’s spokesman said.
Riyadh, meanwhile, stuck to its position
that Nimr had committed acts of
terrorism. He was executed along with
46 other accused terrorists in the early
hours of the new year, many of whom
had been convicted for bombings or
assassinations.
Many were Shias
who had taken part
in anti-regime
protests, while
others were
convicted members
of al-Qaida. One of
those put to death
had allegedly been
part of a team of
gunmen who had
shot the BBC
correspondent Frank Gardner on the
streets of Riyadh, leaving him
paralysed.
Nimr’s execution could have been
stopped by royal pardon and clemency
had been repeatedly sought by officials
in Tehran. However, in a sign of
Riyadh’s hardening position towards its
arch-rival in the region, the Saudi
monarch, King Salman , refused to
intervene.
Saudi officials had been convinced that
Nimr was a central figure in attempts to
stir dissent among the country’s Shia
minority, which makes up about 15% of
the population and is viewed by Riyadh
as being a subversive threat, urged on
by the Iranian leadership.