Diplomatic Row Between Iran, Saudi Arabia Deepens

Iranians hold posters of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr during an anti-Saudi Arabia demonstration at the Imam Hossein square in Tehran, Iran, 04 January 2016. Photo: EPA

The diplomatic row between Iran and Saudi Arabia has deepened as several other countries have joined.

Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have all taken diplomatic actions against Iran after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was attacked following the execution of a Shia Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

Bahrain and Sudan have severed their relations with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates has downgraded its diplomatic team.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia suspended ties with Iran accusing it of not interfering to prevent an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and issued Iran with a 48-hour deadline to remove its diplomatic mission from Riyadh.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir added on Monday that Riyadh was also cutting trade ties with Tehran, cancelling all flights to and from Iran and banning its citizens to travel to Iran.

On Monday, Bahrain announced that it is closing its embassy in Iran and gave Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.

Bahrain accused Tehran of meddling in the internal affairs of Arab and Gulf states, the BBC informs.

Several hours later, Sudan also announced that it is cutting off its ties with Iran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates replaced its ambassador with an embassy officer-in-charge, Al Jazeera reports.

The relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated after the decision of Riyadh to execute Shia religious figure Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 other mostly Sunni men convicted of terrorism.

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