Breaking News: Saudi Arabia Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Iran

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2016 /USNewswire/ — Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir announced that Saudi Arabia is severing ties with Iran after the embassy attack in Tehran. During a press conference SaveFrom.net this evening in Riyadh, the foreign minister said that Iranian diplomats and staff have been given 48 hours to leave the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran after protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Teheran over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others were executed on Saturday after being convicted of terror-related offenses. Iran is a predominantly Shia Muslim nation.

Minister Al-Jubeir said that Iran has a history of violating diplomatic missions in its country. “The continued attacks on diplomatic missions is a flagrant violation of all international treaties,” said the foreign minister.

The foreign minister vowed that Saudi Arabia will not allow Iran to sabotage the region’s security.

“We are determined not to allow Iran to undermine our security. We are determined not to let Iran mobilize or create or establish terrorist cells in our country or in the countries of our allies. We will push back against Iran’s attempts to do so,” said the foreign minister. “We want to make it very clear that there is no space in the community of nations for a country that condones terrorism, that supports terrorism and that engages in terrorism.”

Most of the 47 people executed by Saudi Arabia were Sunnis convicted of involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks over the last decade.

Sheikh Nimr was involved in anti-government protests that erupted in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Arab Spring, up to his arrest in 2012.

News of Sheikh Nimr’s execution prompted an angry response from Shias across the region.

The execution sparked new demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where Shia Muslims complain of marginalisation, as well as in Iraq, Bahrain and several other countries.

The top Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani denounced the execution as an “unjust aggression”.

The BBC reported that US state department spokesman John Kirby said: “We will continue to urge leaders across the region to take affirmative steps to calm tensions”.

“We believe that diplomatic engagement and direct conversations remain essential,” Kirby said.

 

News Sources: Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office, The BBC

 

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