News / Persian Gulf

Qatar recalls ambassador to Iran amid Tehran-Riyadh tensions

Wednesday, 06 January 2016 8:52 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 06 January 2016 10:22 PM ]

Shia Muslim Iraqis hold portraits of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration in the Iraq’s southern city of Basra on January 6, 2016. (AFP)

Qatar has recalled its ambassador to Tehran amid recent tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran over Riyadh’s execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

“The ministry summoned this morning Qatar's ambassador to Tehran against the backdrop of attacks on the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran," Qatar News Agency quoted the director of the country’s Asian Affairs Department Khalid Ibrahim Abdulrahman Al-Hamar as saying on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Sunday following demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters censuring the Al Saud family for the killing of Nimr. Some people mounted the walls of the consulate in Mashhad while incendiary devices were hurled at the embassy in Tehran. Some 50 people were detained over the transgression.

Following Riyadh, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Sudan severed ties with Iran, Jordan called in Iran’s envoy in Amman for explanations on the incidents, and Kuwait recalled its ambassador, while the United Arab Emirates announced a partial downgrade in diplomatic relations with Tehran.

The execution has sparked condemnation from governments and human rights groups and resulted in multiple protests all over the world.

Also on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced the attacks as a breach of the Islamic Republic’s security and called for an urgent investigation into the assaults on the Saudi diplomatic missions.

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