By VICE News and Reuters
Kuwait became the latest country to recall its ambassador from Iran on Tuesday, as protesters in Iran and Iraq marched for a third day in protest at Saudi Arabia’s execution of a dissident Shia cleric.
“An official source at the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said that the ministry recalled the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday morning… against the backdrop of the attacks carried out by crowds of demonstrators,” reported state news agency KUNA.Saudi Arabia cut all diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday after Iranian protesters stormed its embassy in Tehran to denounce the killing of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr. The cleric was among 47 people executed for terrorism offenses by beheading or firing squad by the kingdom on Saturday.
Bahrain and Sudan followed suit on Monday, and Saudi Arabia later announced it was also stopping air traffic and commercial relations between the two rival regional powers.
Related: Exclusive: Saudi Arabia Admits Bombing MSF Hospital in Yemen — But Faults MSF
Iran is the leading Shia Muslim nation in the Middle East while Saudi Arabia is the leading Sunni power.
The countries back opposing sides in Syria and Yemen, where it was reported that Saudi airstrikes had intensified on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia and Sunni Muslim allies are bombing Yemen in an attempt to repel the Shia rebel Houthi movement, which is allied with Iran.
Nearly 6,000 people have been killed since the Saudi coalition entered the conflict in March, almost half of them civilians. The war has exacerbated hunger and disease in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country. – Vice News
