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Iran’s Supreme Leader Condemns Saudi Arabia’s Execution of Shiite Cleric Iran and Saudi Arabia Exchange Heated Words After Execution of Shiite Cleric
(about 3 hours later)
Iran’s supreme leader warned Sunday that Saudi Arabia would face divine vengeance for the execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric, a day after Iranian protesters ransacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in outrage over the execution. BAGHDAD — A war of words between Middle East rivals escalated on Sunday, with the supreme leader of Iran warning that Saudi Arabia would face divine vengeance for the execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric, a day after Iranian protesters ransacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in outrage over the execution.
“God’s hand of retaliation will grip the neck of Saudi politicians,” said the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in comments reported on his official website. Saudi Arabia, which put the cleric to death in a mass execution of 47 men accused of terrorism-related offenses, fired back, saying Iran had “revealed its true face represented in support for terrorism.”
Despite the rhetoric, however, the Iranians seemed to be taking steps to prevent the dispute from escalating further. Forty Iranians were arrested on Saturday night for the violence — a sign that the authorities were trying to keep public outrage from getting out of control. The heated rhetoric underscored the mounting tensions between the two powers that each consider themselves leaders of the Islamic world and support opposing sides in conflicts across the region.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, on Sunday condemned the execution, but also said that the attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad had damaged Iran’s reputation. Setting off this round of recriminations was the Saudis’ execution on Saturday of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric from eastern Saudi Arabia who often criticized the Saudi royal family and called for Shiite empowerment. Skeikh Nimr had become a leader in Shiite protests, and the government accused him of inciting violence.
Most of the reaction to the execution in the region broke cleanly along sectarian lines, with Shiite leaders in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and elsewhere criticizing the Saudis for killing a man they called a peaceful dissident while Saudi Arabia’s Sunni allies applauded what they called the country’s efforts to fight terrorism.
Most of those executed had been convicted of being involved with Al Qaeda in a wave of deadly attacks in the kingdom a decade ago and included prominent leaders and ideologues. Four, including Sheikh Nimr, were Shiites accused of participating in violent demonstrations in which demonstrators and police were killed.
The BBC reported on Saturday that one of those executed, Adel Al-Dubayti, had been convicted of fatally shooting Simon Cumbers, a freelance journalist on assignment for the BBC in Riyadh, in a 2004 attack that also left a reporter, Frank Gardner, critically wounded.
Most of the men were beheaded; some were shot by firing squads. Unlike most Saudi executions, those on Saturday were not public.
Outside the Middle East, some criticized the Saudi justice system and the mass execution, the largest in the kingdom in decades.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, said on Saturday that he was “deeply dismayed” by the execution of Sheikh Nimr and the other men after “trials that raised serious concerns over the nature of the charges and the fairness of the process.”
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, called the mass execution “a very disturbing development, particularly as some of those sentenced to death were accused of nonviolent crimes.”
Mr. Hussein, a Jordanian prince, also questioned whether due process had been observed during the men’s trials.
In the United States, Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, refused to comment specifically on the execution of Sheikh Nimr but said the United States had been complaining to the Saudis for years about human rights issues.
“We also would like to see steps taken by Saudi Arabia and other countries to reduce sectarian tensions in the region,” Mr. Rhodes said.
The European Union, which opposes the death penalty, said that Shiekh Nimr’s execution in particular “raises serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and the respect of basic civil and political rights.”
Yet calls for restraint went largely unheeded in the Middle East.
“God’s hand of retaliation will grip the neck of Saudi politicians,” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in comments reported on his official website.
“The oppressed scholar neither encouraged people to take armed action nor engaged in secret plotting,” Ayatollah Khamenei said of Sheikh Nimr. His “only action,” the ayatollah added, was “openly criticizing” the Saudis and “promoting virtue and prohibiting vice — something that stemmed from his religious ardor and devotion.”
The Iranians did, however, appear to be taking steps to prevent the dispute from escalating further. Forty Iranians were arrested for taking part in the anti-Saudi mayhem — a sign that the authorities were trying to contain public outrage.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, on Sunday also condemned the execution but said that the attacks on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad had damaged Iran’s reputation.
“We do not allow rogue groups to commit illegal actions and damage the holy reputation of Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in a statement. “What happened last night in Mashhad and Tehran and collateral damages in Saudi consulate and Embassy is not acceptable and justifiable.”“We do not allow rogue groups to commit illegal actions and damage the holy reputation of Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in a statement. “What happened last night in Mashhad and Tehran and collateral damages in Saudi consulate and Embassy is not acceptable and justifiable.”
He called upon the interior, judiciary and intelligence ministries to guarantee the safety of the Saudi diplomats in Iran. He called upon the Interior, Judiciary and Intelligence ministries to guarantee the safety of Saudi diplomats in Iran.
On Sunday, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, issued a stern rebuke to Saudi Arabia, “deploring” the execution of the cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and expressing concern about the surge in Saudi executions and the quality of the judicial process that resulted in them. Saudi Arabia has argued that Shiekh Nimr was actively involved in violence against security forces during Arab Spring protests in the eastern part of the country but has not made public any evidence it may have against him.
The United Nations secretary general and the European Union have also condemned the execution of Sheikh Nimr, one of 47 people put to death on terrorism-related charges. The United States said it was concerned that the execution could exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region. The sheikh had been a vocal critic of the Sunni kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority. The Saudi Foreign Ministry responded to Iranian criticism on Sunday by accusing Iran of “blind sectarianism” and of spreading terrorism “in the entire region.”
“The oppressed scholar neither encouraged people to take armed action nor engaged in secret plotting,” Ayatollah Khamenei said of Sheikh Nimr. His “only action,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, was “openly criticizing” the Saudis and “promoting virtue and prohibiting vice — something that stemmed from his religious ardor and devotion.” Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Sunday, chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel, but no violence was reported amid a heavy police presence. The protesters left the area after about two hours.
Ayatollah Khamenei criticized all those “who claim to support freedom, democracy and human rights and keep silent and support the Saudi regime,” and added, “The Islamic world and the whole world should feel responsible for this issue.” There were few signs on Sunday that the rhetoric between Saudi Arabia and Iran was heading toward concrete changes. Tehran and Riyadh, the Saudi capital, already back opposing sides in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen and have struggled for influence in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon and elsewhere.
Iran, which is ruled by Shiite clerics, and Saudi Arabia, which has a Sunni monarchy, have been engaged in a regional struggle for dominance that has been exacerbated by the turbulence of the Arab Spring and its aftermath. In his remarks on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the island nation of Bahrain, which is predominantly Shiite but governed by Sunni rulers, and to Yemen, which is strained by a civil war between the Houthis, Shiite rebels who support the former president, and Sunni supporters of the current government. Further straining tensions are Saudi concerns that the Iranian nuclear agreement could increase Tehran’s ability to spread its influence. Iran remains angry over Saudi Arabia’s handling of a deadly human crush during the hajj pilgrimage last year that left more than 2,400 pilgrims dead, according to a count by The Associated Press. More than 450 of the dead were from Iran.
“The torture of Bahraini people and destruction of their mosques and buildings and the bombardment of Yemeni people are other instances of crimes committed by the Saudi regime which should never be overlooked by human rights activists and organizations,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. Amid that hostility, some criticized the mutual recriminations.
“This spat between KSA and Iran is becoming ridiculous,” Michael Stephens, an analyst at the think tank Royal United Services Institute, wrote on Twitter, using a shorthand for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “It’s like watching two children in the playground…pot calling kettle black.”
Both sides, Mr. Stephens wrote, accuse the other of abusing human rights, undermining Islam and cooperating with “the Jews and the West.”
“Pathetic,” he concluded.