Saudi Arabia’s closest Sunni allies have followed its lead and severed or downgraded their relations with Iran, as the repercussions continued over the execution of a leading Shia cleric by the Saudi authorities, which has provoked international condemnation. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, called the dramatic rupture between Riyadh and Tehran “deeply worrying”.
Bahrain and Sudan cut their ties with Iran, while the United Arab Emiratesdowngraded its relations in a bitter row that has highlighted escalating Sunni-Shia tensions and cast a long shadow over efforts to end the wars in Syria and Yemen.
The swift succession of punitive diplomatic moves followed attacks by Iranian crowds on the Saudi missions in Tehran and Mashhad in protest at the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday. Three other Saudi Shias were executed, as were 43 Sunnis convicted of terrorism. It was the biggest mass execution in the conservative kingdom since 1980.
Saudi Arabia defended its judicial process late on Monday night, saying that 47 people executed at the weekend had been granted “fair and just trials without any consideration to their intellectual, racial, or sectarian affiliation”. The Saudi UN mission expressed “deep regret” that Ban had raised concerns about the nature of the charges and fairness of the trials of those executed.
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