Saudi Arabia to Pay 'High Price' for Executing Shiite Cleric
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Saudi Arabia will pay "a high price" for executing prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, Iran's foreign ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari strongly condemned the execution, which came after his Shiite country repeatedly asked its Sunni-ruled rival to pardon the cleric.
"The Saudi government supports terrorist movements and extremists, but confronts domestic critics with oppression and execution... the Saudi government will pay a high price for following these policies," he said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
Nimr, 56, was a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in Eastern Province, where the Shiite minority of Saudi Arabia complains of marginalization.
"The execution of a figure like Sheikh al-Nimr, who had no means to follow his political and religious goals but through speaking out, merely shows the extent of irresponsibility and imprudence," said Ansari.
For its part, the Basij student militia connected to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards called for a demonstration on Sunday afternoon in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
02 January 2016, 12:41
01
I guess the statement by Iranian Ansari confirms that KSA was right in executing this thug.
02 January 2016, 12:49
10
Iran is using Arab Shia and theirs is a poisonous policy that is harming the Arab countries. However, this does not in any way justify the oppressive regime in Saudi Arabia.
02 January 2016, 13:06
01
the shia cleric was executed for supporting terror activities, for incitement, and for justifying attacks on Saudi police. It has nothing to do with the oppressive regime in KSA as you claim. The fact that Iran rushed to release this statement is proof the so called cleric was an iranian tool.
