Mideast tensions soar as Saudi Arabia rallies countries to cut ties with Iran

BEIRUT — The Middle East slid dangerously closer to regional conflict Monday after Saudi Arabia rallied its Sunni allies to sever diplomatic ties with Iran, prompting alarmed appeals for restraint from powers across the globe.

Bahrain and Sudan joined Saudi Arabia in cutting off relations with Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, a key Iranian trading partner, recalled its ambassador from Tehran, as the fallout from the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia on Saturday heightened sectarian tensions across the Middle East.

Iran Sees ‘Divine Vengeance’ After Saudis Execute Shi’ite Cleric

DUBAI/RIYADH:  Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran early on Sunday and Shi’ite Muslim Iran’s top leader predicted “divine vengeance” for Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric.

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani condemned the execution as “inhuman”, but also called for prosecuting “extremist individuals” for attacking the embassy and the Saudi consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad, state media reported.

Saudi Arabia cuts diplomatic ties with Iran amid rising tensions

The move came after Iranians stormed and burned the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran in protest of Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says his country is severing diplomatic ties with Iran amid spiking tensions over the execution of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric.

Al-Jubeir said late Sunday evening that Iranian diplomatic personnel had 48 hours to leave the country and all Saudi diplomatic personnel in Iran were being recalled home.

The execution of a Shiite cleric in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia laid bare the divisions now gripping the Middle East, as protesters set fire Sunday to the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran and demonstrators took to the streets from Bahrain to Pakistan.

Ousted Egyptian president Morsi sentenced to death

A Cairo court Saturday sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to death after his conviction in a 2011 jailbreak. Sentenced with him were 120 other defendants including  Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Badie, a former parliament speaker, Mohamed Saad El-Katatny and, in absentia, treasurer Khairat el-Shater and the radical TV preacher Yusouf Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar.