Gulf Allies Imitate Saudis in Cutting Ties with Iran

Monday, 4 January 2016

Gulf Allies Imitate Saudis in Cutting Ties with Iran

Local Editor

Countries allied with the Saudi Arabia started on Monday to imitate the kingdom in cutting ties with the Islamic Republic over the repercussions that followed the execution of Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, a move that would be praised by the Saudi-led coalition launching an eight-month long war on neighboring Yemen.

Bahrain News agency reported that the tiny Gulf state is cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, and that Manama ordered Tehran's diplomats "to leave the kingdom within 48 hours."

The Bahraini foreign ministry summoned Iran's charge d'affaires Murtada Sanawbari and handed him an official note in this regard, said the statement carried by BNA.

Elsewhere in the Persian Gulf, the United Arab Emirates recalled its envoy from Iran, downgraded diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic "to the level of charge d'affaires and reduced the number of Iranian diplomats in the country," the foreign ministry said in a statement, quoted by the official WAM news agency.

Moreover, "the Sudanese government announces the cutting of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately," the foreign ministry said in a statement Monday.

Saudi Arabia said Sunday it was severing its ties with Iran after angry crowds set fire to its embassy in Tehran and attacked its consulate in Mashhad a day after Riyadh executed Shiite Nimr.

Ayatollah Nimr, 56, was a revered Shia leader of Friday prayers in the Saudi Eastern Province, and a man who stayed clear of political parties but demanded free elections, and was regularly detained and tortured – by his own account – for opposing the injustice of the Wahabi Saudi government.

Bahrain, Sudan and UAE made their decision to cut relations with Iran over what they called "Iranian meddling" in the regional affairs, turning blind eye to their involvement in the Saudi-US aggression on Yemen that has killed so far more than 2000 people, and destroyed the country's vital infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Sudan, UAE and Turkey are among the countries that were proved funding and training the takfiri terrorist groups operating in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, igniting crises that have claimed so far more hundreds of thousands of Arab people.