Iran accuses Saudi warplanes of attacking Iranian embassy in Yemen

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Saudi Arabia was to blame for the air strikes the coalition it leads dealt on the Iranian embassy in Sana since the end of March 2014. On Thursday, Tehran accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out an airstrike on its embassy, which injured several guards. The Somali Foreign Ministry said it recalled its acting ambassador to Tehran and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave Somalia within 72 hours over “Iran’s continuous interference in Somalia’s internal affairs”.

“It also confirms the embassy building is safe and has not been damaged”.

The Saudi-led coalition combating Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen denied the accusation, saying no operations were carried out near the mission.

A Yemeni man inspects the damage at a site hit by Saudi-led air strikes in the capital Sanaa.

Erdogan recently made a state visit to Saudi Arabia just ahead of the kingdom’s execution of Sheikh Nimr.

In the evening of the same day crowds of furious Iranian demonstrators stormed the building of Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran and the consulate office in Mashhad. Nimr al-Nimr had demanded more rights for Shiites, who are a minority in Saudi Arabia, where most citizens are Sunni Muslims.

The president also said those who remained silent about the deaths of people in Syria’s civil war were causing an uproar over the execution of one person in Saudi Arabia, apparently referring to Iran though he did not name names.

“The Saudi government, in order to cover up its crime of beheading a religious leader has resorted to a unusual measure and has severed its ties with the Islamic Republic, whereas, undoubtedly, such moves will never hide that great crime”, Rouhani said Tuesday, according to state-run Press TV.

Meanwhile, a number of countries – including the U.S., the U.K., China and Turkey – urged both Saudi Arabia and Iran to show restraint amid the ongoing row.

Somalia joins Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Bahrain in cutting ties to Iran amid the crisis.

The spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri told Reuters that the coalition would investigate Iran’s accusation that its embassy had been struck.

Iran’s embargo on imports from Saudi Arabia will reportedly affect goods worth about $40 million (36.7 million euros).