Two more countries have severed ties with Iran while another is tamping down relations with them, ordering diplomats to vacate their countries after the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Iran:
THE HILL – The rift between Iran and its neighbors in the Arab world deepened on Monday, as Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia in rolling back diplomatic ties with Tehran.
Bahrain and Sudan cut their relations entirely, while the UAE recalled its ambassador from Iran and downgraded its diplomatic efforts.
The developments send ominous signs that a sectarian-tinged divide between Iran and other countries in the region is growing, in a potential roadblock for international cooperation.
The diplomatic limits come as part of an increasing fallout for Iran’s reaction to the Saudi execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr this weekend.After that execution in Saudi Arabia, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy and a consulate in the city of Marshhad, breaking furniture, smashing windows and setting fire to some facilities.
Iran is responsible for a “blatant and dangerous intervention” in the affairs of Arab nations, Bahrain’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Actions against Saudi diplomatic facilities “constitute a flagrant violation of both international conventions and treaties,” Bahrain added, and embody “the very dangerous sectarian policies that cannot be ignored or accepted.”
Bahrain ordered Iranian diplomats to leave its kingdom within 48 hours.
Sudan’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, called the actions in Iran “barbaric.”
The UAE downgraded its representation in Iran and ordered Tehran to cut back the number of diplomats in the Persian Gulf nation.
”This exceptional step has been taken in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels,” the UAE foreign ministry said.
Saudi Arabia cut off its diplomatic ties to Iran on Sunday.
The execution of the Ayatollah in Saudi Arabia has caused protests all over the Middle East:
Saudi Arabia basically just put its crisis with Iran in overdrive. ‘Ayatollah’ is the highest religious position in Shiism and there are less than 50 Ayatollahs in the world, and the Saudis just executed one of them.
We know from scripture that Iran will destroy Saudi Arabia (Isaiah 21) and considering we are fast approaching the end, I’d say this is up there among the reasons why it will happen. They have very long memories in the Middle East.