Saudi Arabia has given an ultimatum of 24 hours to Iranian envoy in Riyadh to leave the country.
According to local media reports, the order was issued after the Saudi embassy was attacked in Tehran last night.
Tension escalated between Saudi and Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite Cleric Sheikh al-Nimr on terrorism charges among 47 others.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling the execution “a political mistake” said Saudi Arabia will face “divine revenge” over it.
“The unjustly spilt blood of this martyr will have quick consequences,” according to AFP, Khamenei told clerics in the capital. “This scholar neither encouraged people into armed action nor secretly conspired for plots but the only thing he did was utter public criticism rising from his religious zeal.”
Earlier the country’s Foreign Ministry condemning the execution accused Saudi Arabia for supporitign terrorism.
“The execution of a personality such as Sheikh Nimr who had no means other than speech to pursue his political and religious objectives only shows the depth of imprudence and irresponsibility,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hossein Jaberi Ansari. “The Saudi government supports terrorists and Takfiri extremists, while talking to its critics at home with the language of execution and suppression.”
Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr was arrested, jailed and later sentenced to death on terrorism charges for his fiery speeches during anti-government protests in Qatif, a city that saw massive street protests followed by a crackdown by the Saudi authorities in the wake of the Arab Spring.
khaama.com
