Syria’s opposition urges all Arab states to cut Iran ties

“We demand that the Saudi embassy be closed down and all Saudi interests terminated”, said Ahmad, one of the more than 5,000 protesters in central Baghdad. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also downgraded its ties with Iran. The council statement, agreed to after hours of negotiations, made no mention of the Saudi executions or the rupture in Saudi-Iranian relations.

Saudi Arabia executed 47 prisoners, including Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr from the kingdom’s predominantly Shiite eastern province, for terror-related offenses on Saturday. Like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the UAE is Sunni-ruled.

The envoy argued that the regional circumstances, including the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, necessitate pushing for calm, not escalation of the tensions. The execution of 45 Saudis, and Egyptian and a man from Chad was the biggest mass execution for ‎security offences in Saudi Arabia since the 1980 killing of 63 jihadist rebels who seized Mecca’s Grand ‎Mosque in 1979.

He went on to give all Iranian diplomats in the kingdom 48 hours to leave the country.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks.

Germany’s opposition Greens and Left parties demanded the government halt all military exports to Saudi Arabia, which reached Dollars 226 million in 2014, the last full year for which data is available.

Somalia also criticized the attack on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran as a “flagrant violation” of global law.

Saudi Arabia’s severing of diplomatic ties with Iran will not affect its efforts to secure peace in Syria and Yemen, and ties with Iran would be restored when it stops interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, said the kingdom’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the city of Marshhad, smashing windows and lighting fires. The hajj this year likely will begin in early September, though Muslims travel to the holy sites all year long as well.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the Obama administration believes “diplomatic engagement and direct conversations remain essential in working through differences”. “We are urging all sides to show restraint and to not inflame the tensions that have been on display in the region”. Ban spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday. A USA official said Kerry had spoken on Sunday with the U.N special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to gauge any impact Saudi-Iranian developments might have on the planned January 25 start of negotiations.