Iran Diplomat: Saudi Arabia Cannot Bury Cleric’s Execution by Cutting Ties

“Saudi Arabia says the executions were to preserve the safety of the kingdom”.

Demonstrators protesting against cleric Nimr al-Nimr’s execution broke into the embassy building, smashed furniture and started fires before being ejected by police.

Iran’s supreme leader warned yesterday that Saudi Arabia would face “divine revenge” for deciding to execute a Shiite cleric, calling the killing a mistake which would “haunt” the kingdom.

The political Analyst, Fahd al-Ghayadh, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Nimr al-Nimr is not but an Iranian party working in Saudi Arabia as he called several times for applying the Providence of the Jurist) Wilayat al Faqih( in Saudi Arabia, during religious events.

Shia Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr was a fervent dissident against the Sunni Muslim Saudi royal family and called for their deposal during the Arab spring uprisings in 2011.

“We are deeply concerned to hear of the attack yesterday on the Saudi embassy in Tehran“.

“Al-Nimr said he was against the idea that Saudi Shi’a should expect Iranian support based on some idea of sectarian unity that supersedes national politics”, the cable reports.

Despite the regional focus on Nimr, the executions seemed mostly aimed at discouraging militancy in Saudi Arabia, where dozens have died in the past year in attacks by militants.

The Iranian foreign ministry had earlier condemned Nimr’s execution, calling it “the depth of imprudence and irresponsibility” on the part of the Saudi government.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned Iran’s envoy to the kingdom to protest Iran’s criticism of the execution, saying it represented “blatant interference” in its internal affairs.

Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Iran after protesters stormed the premises and set it on fire.

Clearly this raises serious questions that we have to raise directly with the Saudi government, Clinton said in response to a Derry town hall question about how she would handle the situation as president.

Al-Nimr was an outspoken critic but non-violent, Khamenei said.

In Istanbul, hundreds of protesters, some carrying pictures of Nimr and chanting “Saudi Arabia will pay the price”, gathered outside its consulate on Sunday as riot police stood guard.

Meanwhile, the road the embassy sits on in northern Tehran saw a new street sign come up in recent hours. Tehran authorities could not be immediately reached to discuss the new name.

In Iraq, a Shia icon directed followers to protest in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Baghdad. Already on Saturday there were public calls for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to shut the embassy down again.

However, al-Nimr’s brother Mohammed al-Nimr has asked that any reaction to the execution be peaceful. “Repression does not last”.

It exposed the sectarian divisions gripping the region and also illustrated the kingdom’s new aggressiveness under King Salman.

Nimr was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia’s marginalized Shi’ite minority until his arrest in 2012.

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

Among those executed was Adel al-Dhubaiti, who was sentenced for the 2004 shooting that left freelance cameraman Simon Cumbers dead and BBC journalist Frank Gardner critically injured.