Kuwait recalls ambassador to Iran amid Saudi tensions

Kuwait has recalled its ambassador to Iran over attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic.

It is the latest Arab ally of Saudi Arabia to line up behind the kingdom amid rising regional tensions following its execution of a leading Shia cleric and opposition figure.

The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr last weekend also heightened the Saudi-Iran rivalry, threatening to derail already-shaky peace efforts over the wars in Syria and Yemen.

Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said on Monday that they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late on Sunday. The United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticising Iran.

The concerted campaign by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival.

“What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented ... It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University. “This is the Saudis saying ‘There is no limit to how far we will go’.”

On Tuesday, Kuwait announced it was recalling its ambassador in a statement carried on the state-run Kuwait News Agency, without elaborating. It was not immediately clear how Kuwait-Iran diplomatic ties would be affected by the move.

Kuwait is home to both Shia and Sunnis living in peace and has the most free-wheeling political system among all Gulf nations.

The diplomatic stand-off began on Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges — the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.

Sheikh al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority, long denied advocating violence. News of his execution has sparked Shia protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

In Iran, protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.

Late on Sunday, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority suspended all flights to and from Iran, saying the move was based on the kingdom’s cutting of diplomatic ties.

Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible.

In the letter, obtained by the Associated Press, Iran’s UN envoy, Gholamali Khoshroo, said more than 40 protesters have been arrested and that authorities are searching for other suspects.

In response to a Saudi letter, the UN Security Council strongly condemned the attacks by Iranian protesters on Saudi diplomatic posts. The council statement late on Monday, agreed to after hours of negotiations, made no mention of the Saudi executions or the rupture in Saudi-Iranian relations.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long vied for influence in the Middle East. Their rivalry deepened following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

World powers have sought to calm the tensions. On Monday, Germany called on both sides to mend ties, while Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed senior diplomat as saying Moscow is ready to act as a mediator.

The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was en route to Riyadh on Monday with plans to later visit Tehran. Iran, a staunch supporter of embattled Syrian president Bashar Assad, and Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the opposition, have participated in three rounds of international talks aimed at ending the conflict.

Mr De Mistura has set a target date of January 25th for a fourth round of talks.

The White House urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to not let their dispute derail efforts to end the Syrian civil war.

AP