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Saudi Arabia to cut air traffic with Iran, ban Saudis from travelling

Xinhua, January 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced on Monday that his country will cut air traffic with Iran and ban citizens from travelling there, Al Arabiya local news reported.

He also said that the cutting of relations will cover commercial ties, while Iranian pilgrims will always be welcome in Saudi Arabia.

The announcement was made one day after Saudi Arabia announced cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran and asked all Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours.

This excessive reaction was made after angry Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi diplomat mission to protest the Saudi execution of 47 individuals on terrorism charges, including a Saudi Shiite cleric, Nemer Baqar Al-Nemer, a member of the Saudi Shiite community.

In a press conference held yesterday, the minister 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.

Others Arab countries also responded to the attacks, as Bahrain also cut its diplomatic ties with Iran, UAE lower its diplomatic representation in Iran and Sudan asked the Iranian envoy to leave the country. Endit