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UP FRONTTuesday 5 January 2016
Allies follow Saudis in cutting ties with Iran US treads warily as Iran and
JON GAMBRELL is no limit to how far we will long vied for influence in Saudi Arabia tensions ignite
Associated Press go.’” the Middle East, with their
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- The standoff began Sat- rivalry deepening follow- MATTHEW LEE
ates (AP) — Allies of Saudi urday, when Saudi Ara- ing the toppling of Sad- AP Diplomatic Writer
Arabia followed the king- bia executed Shiite cleric dam Hussein in Iraq, which WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration
dom’s lead Monday and Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 allowed Iran to assert tread warily Monday around inflamed tensions be-
scaled back diplomatic others convicted of terror dominance there, and the tween Iran and Saudi Arabia that threaten several
ties to Iran after the ran- charges — the largest mass chaos of the Arab Spring, key U.S. foreign policy objectives.
sacking of Saudi diplomat- execution carried out by which gave rise to proxy The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry
ic missions in the Islamic the kingdom since 1980. wars in Syria and Yemen. had spoken Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister
Republic, violence sparked Al-Nimr was a central figure An early battleground was Mohammad Javad Zarif, while the official Saudi
by the Saudi execution of a in the Arab Spring-inspired Bahrain, where the Shiite Press Agency reported that Kerry had spoken on
prominent Shiite cleric. protests by Saudi Arabia’s majority staged mass pro- Monday with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Moham-
med bin Salman.
An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Saudi U.S. officials said the administration is loath to insert
Shiite cleric who was executed last week by Saudi Arabia, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. itself into the row between Riyadh and Tehran but
Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead and began scaling back diplomatic ties to Iran wants to ensure the viability of the fight against the
on Monday after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, nascent at-
sparked by the Saudi execution of al-Nimr. tempts to end Syria’s civil war and the Iran nuclear
deal.
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) White House spokesman Josh Earnest called on
both countries to show restraint and avoid further
Sudan and the tiny island Shiite minority, who long de- tests in 2011 demanding inflaming sectarian tensions between Sunni-led Sau-
kingdom of Bahrain said nied advocating violence. political reforms from the di Arabia and Shiite-ruled Iran. And he urged Saudi
they would sever ties with News of his execution has Sunni monarchy. Saudi Ara- Arabia and Iran not to let the conflict derail fragile
Iran, as Saudi Arabia did sparked Shiite protests from bia and the United Arab talks aimed at securing a cease-fire and a political
late Sunday. Within hours, Bahrain to Pakistan. Emirates sent in troops to transition to end the war in Syria.
the United Arab Emir- In Iran, protesters attacked help quash the revolt, view- “Hopefully they will continue to engage,” Earnest
ates announced it would the Saudi Embassy in Teh- ing it as an Iranian bid to said. “It is so clearly in the interests of both countries
downgrade ties to Tehran ran and its consulate in expand its influence. to advance a political solution to the situation inside
to the level of the charge Mashhad. By late Sunday, Bahraini officials have since of Syria.”
d’affaires, while other na- Saudi Foreign Minister Adel accused Iran of training Kerry is also planning to make a round of calls Mon-
tions issued statements criti- al-Jubeir announced the militants and attempting day to the foreign ministers of all the Sunni-led states
cizing Iran. kingdom would sever its to smuggle arms into the in the Persian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Ku-
The concerted campaign relations with Iran over the country, which hosts the wait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman,
by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia assaults, giving Iranian dip- U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. In officials said. Bahrain followed Saudi Arabia’s lead
highlights the aggressive lomatic personnel 48 hours October, Bahrain ordered and severed diplomatic ties with Iran, while the UAE
stance King Salman and his to leave his country. the acting Iranian charge downgraded its diplomatic relations with it. In ad-
son, Deputy Crown Prince Iran expressed “regret” d’affaires to leave within 72 dition to Kerry, other senior U.S. diplomats were in
Mohammed bin Salman, over the attacks on the hours and recalled its own close contact with Saudi and Arab officials over the
have adopted in confront- diplomatic missions in a let- ambassador after alleging weekend, according to the U.S. officials who spoke
ing Iran, a longtime regional ter to the United Nations Iran sponsored “subver- on condition of anonymity because they were not
rival. “What we have seen on Monday and vowed to sion” and “terrorism” and authorized to speak publicly to the delicate diplo-
during the last 24 hours is arrest those responsible. In funneled arms to militants. macy.
unprecedented... It shows the letter, obtained by The Sudan, which has been The U.S. message to all is to urge calm and warn
you Saudi Arabia has had Associated Press, Iran’s U.N. looking to Saudi for aid against overreaction that some fear could lead to
enough of Iran and wants envoy Gholamali Khoshroo since the secession of oil- a sectarian war, officials said.
to send a message,” said says more than 40 protest- rich South Sudan in 2011, Several officials said one of Washington’s primary
Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a ers have been arrested and on Monday announced and most immediate concerns is the potential ef-
political science professor that authorities are search- an “immediate severing of fect the spat could have on the fragile coopera-
at Emirates University. “This ing for other suspects. ties” over the diplomatic tion in Iraq between the Iraqi security forces, which
is the Saudis saying: ‘There Saudi Arabia and Iran have mission attacks. q answer to an Iran-friendly government, and Sunni
and Shiite militias that are fighting Islamic State ex-
tremists. That cooperation has shown gains in re-
cent weeks, notably with the Iraqi recapture of the
provincial capital of Ramadi from the Islamic State
group.
Officials were preparing for a high-level U.S. con-
versation with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
to stress the importance of continuing the Iraqi gov-
ernment’s outreach to Sunni militias, the officials
said.
Also of concern is the state of the Syrian peace ef-
fort, which is supposed to swing into high gear in
late January with U.N.-sponsored negotiations be-
tween Saudi-backed opposition forces and the
Iranian-supported government of Syrian President
Bashar Assad. A U.S. official said Kerry had spoken
on Sunday with the U.N special envoy for Syria, Staf-
fan de Mistura, to gauge any impact Saudi-Iranian
developments might have on the planned Jan. 25
start of negotiations.q
