{"id":1458,"date":"2017-06-19T15:56:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T15:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/new\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2017-06-19T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T15:56:37","slug":"on-the-war-path-saudi-arabia-breaks-ties-with-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/19\/on-the-war-path-saudi-arabia-breaks-ties-with-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"On the War Path? Saudi Arabia Breaks Ties with Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is the Middle East on the path to a full-blown Sunni-Shiite confrontation? In what may be a precursor to a military conflict, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties after Iranians attacked its embassy over\u00a0the Saudi\u00a0execution of\u00a0a Shiite cleric.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with regional rival Iran following attacks on the kingdom\u2019s embassy and consulate in the Islamic Republic over the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the cut in relations late on Sunday and gave Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave the\u00a0country. All Saudi diplomatic personnel in Iran have been called home after an attack on the Saudi\u2019s embassy in Tehran and a consulate.<\/p>\n

The decision came after the mass execution of Shiite Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others \u2014 the largest carried out by Saudi Arabia in three and a half decades \u2014 laid bare the sectarian divisions gripping the region. Shiite protesters took to the streets from Bahrain to Pakistan while Arab allies of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia quickly lined up behind the kingdom.<\/p>\n

The standoff illustrates the kingdom\u2019s new aggressiveness under King Salman. During his reign, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen and staunchly opposed regional Shiite power Iran, even as Tehran struck a nuclear deal with world powers.<\/p>\n

It also represents just the latest turmoil in the two countries\u2019 long-rocky relationship, which saw diplomatic ties between them severed from 1988 to 1991.<\/p>\n

\"Ali<\/p>\n

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Saudi Arabia on Sunday of \u201cdivine revenge\u201d over al-Nimr\u2019s death, while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting \u201cterrorism\u201d in a war of words that threatened to escalate even as the US and the European Union sought to calm the region.<\/p>\n

Al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh that the Iranian regime has \u201ca long record of violations of foreign diplomatic missions,\u201d dating back to the occupation of the US Embassy in 1979, and such incidents constitute \u201ca flagrant violation of all international agreements,\u201d according to the official Saudi Press Agency.<\/p>\n

He said Iran\u2019s \u201chostile policy\u201d was aimed \u201cat destabilizing the region\u2019s security,\u201d accusing Tehran of smuggling weapons and explosives and planting terrorist cells in the kingdom and other countries in the region. He vowed that Saudi Arabia will not allow Iran \u201cto undermine our security.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Al-Nimr was a central figure in Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia\u2019s Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012. He was convicted of terrorism charges but denied advocating violence.<\/p>\n

An Iranian official has denounced Saudi Arabia\u2019s move to cut diplomatic relations with Iran and accused the Sunni kingdom of stoking tensions region-wide.<\/p>\n

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari also said Monday that Saudi Arabia\u2019s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr over the weekend was an example of this.<\/p>\n

Ansari claims that \u201cSaudi Arabia sees its interests and even its existence in continuing tensions and clashes.\u201d He spoke during a weekly press conference in Tehran.<\/p>\n

He says the kingdom \u201ctries to resolve its domestic problems through projecting and exporting them abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mounting Muslim Sectarian Tension<\/h1>\n

While the split between Sunnis and Shiites dates back to the early days of Islam and disagreements over the successor to the Prophet Muhammad, those divisions have only grown as they intertwine with regional politics, with both Iran and Saudi Arabia vying to be the Mideast\u2019s top power.<\/p>\n

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism in part because it backs Syrian rebel groups fighting<\/a> to oust its embattled ally, President Bashar Assad. Riyadh points to Iran\u2019s backing of the Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shiite terrorist groups in the region as a sign of its support for terrorism. Iran also has backed Shiite rebels in Yemen<\/a> known as Houthis.<\/p>\n

\"Tehran<\/p>\n

Iranian demonstrators chant slogans during a protest denouncing the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Tehran, a protest outside the Saudi Embassy early Sunday quickly grew violent as protesters threw stones and gasoline bombs at the embassy, setting part of the building ablaze, according to Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, the country\u2019s top police official, the semi-official Tasnim<\/em> news agency reported.<\/p>\n

Forty people were arrested and investigators were pursuing other suspects, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.<\/p>\n

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned Saudi Arabia\u2019s execution of al-Nimr, but also branded those who attacked the Saudi Embassy as \u201cextremists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unjustifiable,\u201d he said in a statement. Another Saudi diplomatic mission was also attacked in Mashhad.<\/p>\n

West Works to Calm Muslim Tensions<\/h1>\n

Western powers sought to calm the tensions.<\/p>\n

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the Obama administration was aware of the Saudis\u2019 severing of ties with Tehran. \u201cWe 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,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by phone and urged Tehran to \u201cdefuse the tensions and protect the Saudi diplomats,\u201d according to a statement.<\/p>\n

Implications of Regional Strife<\/h1>\n

The disruption in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran may have implications for peace efforts in Syria.<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State John Kerry and others spent significant time trying to bring the countries to the negotiating table and they both sat together at talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the civil war. Last month, Saudi Arabia convened a meeting of Syrian opposition figures that was designed to create a delegation to attend peace talks with the Syrian government that are supposed to begin in mid-January.<\/p>\n

Across the region, demonstrators took to the streets Sunday in protest over the execution of al-Nimr.<\/p>\n

In Bahrain, police fired tear gas and birdshot at demonstrators on Sitra Island, south of the capital, Manama, wounding some. In al-Daih, west of the capital, Shiite protesters chanted against Saudi Arabia\u2019s ruling Al Saud family, as well as against Bahrain\u2019s ruling Al Khalifa family.<\/p>\n

In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called al-Nimr \u201cthe martyr, the holy warrior,\u201d while protests erupted from Turkey to India to Pakistan.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, al-Nimr\u2019s family prepared for three days of mourning at a mosque in al-Awamiya village in the kingdom\u2019s al-Qatif region in predominantly Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia. The sheikh\u2019s brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, told The Associated Press that Saudi officials informed his family that the cleric had been buried in an undisclosed cemetery, a development that could lead to further protests.<\/p>\n

Early Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said a shooting targeting security forces in the village killed a man and wounded a child. It offered no motive for the attack.<\/p>\n

By: AP<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is the Middle East on the path to a full-blown Sunni-Shiite confrontation? In what may be a precursor to a military conflict, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties after Iranians attacked its embassy over\u00a0the Saudi\u00a0execution of\u00a0a Shiite cleric. Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with regional rival Iran following attacks on the kingdom\u2019s embassy and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}