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Spotlight: S. Arabia severs ties with Iran amid embassy attacks, repercussions feared

Xinhua, January 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday a decision to break off diplomatic ties with Iran after its embassy in Tehran was attacked, sparking fears for increased tensions across the region.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the country has asked all Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours, local media reported.

The minister said he has informed the UN Security Council of the attack on the Saudi diplomatic mission in Iran late Saturday, adding that those Saudi diplomats had reached Dubai, the UAE, safely.

He accused the Iranian authorities of not taking any measures to prevent the attacks against the embassy in Tehran and the consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad.

Late Saturday, angry Iranian protesters raided and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran in reaction to the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, a member of the Saudi Shiite community.

The move came hours after the Saudi Interior Ministry announced that the prominent Shiite leader and 46 other men were executed on terror charges.

Most of the executed were Saudis who were allegedly involved in a series of attacks carried out by al-Qaida from 2003 to 2006. Nimr al-Nimr was a driving force behind anti-government protests that broke out in the country in 2011.

Iranian police said they were trying to drive some of the protesters out of the embassy after they broke into the compound, semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Tehran police chief, Sardar Sajedinia, said that the police has arrested some of the angry mob who had "illegally" ransacked the embassy, according to Tasnim news agency.

"Unfortunately, some (who gathered before the embassy) threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the embassy which caused fire to the building," Sajedinia was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, another group of protesters set parts of the Saudi consulate on fire in Iran's northeastern religious city of Mashhad on Saturday evening, Tabnak news website reported.

The protesters gathered in front of the Saudi consulate and chanted slogans against the Arab state's authorities, according to the report.

The attacks were a violation of relevant international agreements, al-Jubeir said.

He also accused Iran of providing protection for al-Qaida through weapon trafficking.

Tehran's Prosecutor General, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said on Sunday that the police has arrested 40 protesters who raided the Saudi embassy, Iran's Labor News Agency reported.

The judiciary has issued order to identify and arrest others who raided the embassy, Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted as saying.

The United States on Sunday urged leaders in the Middle East to take measures to disperse tensions in the row.

"We're aware that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ordered the closure of Iranian diplomatic missions in the kingdom," said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby.

"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," said Kirby. Endi