Saudi Arabia, Iran “at war” after execution of popular Shiite cleric
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was one of 47 prisoners Saudi Arabia executed, Saturday, in 12 locations across The Kingdom.
Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, was sentenced to death in 2014 on sedition charges for his role in anti-government protests.
He was executed, along 46 others, on Saturday. His execution has sparked outrage in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain.
Protests in neighbouring Bahrain were dispersed with tear gas on Saturday.
In Iran, protesters set the Saudi embassy in Tehran on fire and ransacked the building before police removed them, Grasswire reported.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr’s execution and said Saudi Arabia will witness “divine vengeance.”
Following the attack on Saudi embassy, the Riyadh severed all ties with Iran and told Tehran’s ambassador to leave Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, gunmen killed a civilian and wounded an eight-year-old child when they opened fire on Saudi police in the home village of the executed Shiite cleric, reports say.
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, the highest recorded number since 1995, according to the human rights advocacy group Amnesty International.
A large number of the executions were beheadings.
Some see this as a spill over of the “cold war” between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Saudi is Sunni. Iran is Shiite..
