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| Iran-Saudi Arabia row: Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Kuwait has announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran as a regional row over the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia deepens. | |
| Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others. | Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others. |
| Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response, followed on Monday by its allies Bahrain and Sudan. | |
| The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region. | The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region. |
| Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. | Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. |
| Kuwait's announcement, which was carried on the state-run Kuwait News Agency, did not explain exactly how Kuwait-Iran diplomatic relations would be affected, reports said. | |
| Great rivalry explained: Why don't Iran and Saudi Arabia get along? | |
| Spiralling tensions: Why crisis is 'most dangerous for decades' | |
| How row is playing out: Iran and Saudi media reaction | |
| Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Who was leading Saudi Shia cleric? | |
| Saudi Arabia's unexpected decision to carry out the executions - following convictions over terror-related offences - prompted an expression of "deep dismay" from the UN secretary general, while the US accused Saudi of exacerbating tensions "at a time when they urgently need to be reduced". | |
| But analysts say that since then, Saudi Arabia has played a skilful hand in responding to the attacks on its missions in Tehran and the Iranian city of Mashhad. | |
| While Bahrain and Sudan have cut ties, the UAE has downgraded its diplomatic team in Iran, and now Kuwait has acted too. | |
| And on Monday, the UN Security Council issued a strongly worded statement condemning the attack on the Saudi embassy - making no mention of the execution of the cleric. |