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| Iran Accuses Saudi Arabia of Attacking Embassy in Yemen | Iran Accuses Saudi Arabia of Attacking Embassy in Yemen |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| TEHRAN — Iran accused Saudi Arabia on Thursday of an aerial attack on its embassy in Sana, the capital of Yemen, escalating a conflict between the rivals that has put the region on edge, although witnesses said the building was not hit. | TEHRAN — Iran accused Saudi Arabia on Thursday of an aerial attack on its embassy in Sana, the capital of Yemen, escalating a conflict between the rivals that has put the region on edge, although witnesses said the building was not hit. |
| The attack, on Wednesday night, was said to have occurred as the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen carried out its heaviest airstrikes in months over Sana. | The attack, on Wednesday night, was said to have occurred as the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen carried out its heaviest airstrikes in months over Sana. |
| But guards at the Iranian Embassy and witnesses said the mission itself had not been bombed. Witnesses said the airstrike hit a home across the street from the embassy, a residence that was said to belong to a son of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president who was overthrown in 2012. | But guards at the Iranian Embassy and witnesses said the mission itself had not been bombed. Witnesses said the airstrike hit a home across the street from the embassy, a residence that was said to belong to a son of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president who was overthrown in 2012. |
| Embassy guards were wounded by shrapnel, according to Noaman al-Idrisi, a Yemeni security official who was at the embassy on Thursday. | Embassy guards were wounded by shrapnel, according to Noaman al-Idrisi, a Yemeni security official who was at the embassy on Thursday. |
| The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has exacerbated the civil war that began in Yemen last year. Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy intervened in the war in March, aiming to defeat Shiite-led Yemeni rebels, known as the Houthis, which the Saudis view as a shadow force for Iran. | The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has exacerbated the civil war that began in Yemen last year. Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy intervened in the war in March, aiming to defeat Shiite-led Yemeni rebels, known as the Houthis, which the Saudis view as a shadow force for Iran. |
| About 2,800 civilians have been killed in the fighting, a majority of them by coalition airstrikes, according to the United Nations. | About 2,800 civilians have been killed in the fighting, a majority of them by coalition airstrikes, according to the United Nations. |
| The Houthi rebels, who are allied with Mr. Saleh, drove his successor, President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, from power. Saudi Arabia supports Mr. Hadi, and the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly struck homes belonging to Mr. Saleh, his family and his allies in populated residential areas in Sana. | The Houthi rebels, who are allied with Mr. Saleh, drove his successor, President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, from power. Saudi Arabia supports Mr. Hadi, and the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly struck homes belonging to Mr. Saleh, his family and his allies in populated residential areas in Sana. |
| A spokesman for the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Jaber Ansari, “strongly condemned the Saudi aircraft missile attack on Iran’s embassy in Sana, which caused damage to the embassy building and wounded a number of the building’s guards,” the ILNA news agency reported. | A spokesman for the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Jaber Ansari, “strongly condemned the Saudi aircraft missile attack on Iran’s embassy in Sana, which caused damage to the embassy building and wounded a number of the building’s guards,” the ILNA news agency reported. |
| Mr. Ansari added: “This deliberate attempt by the Saudi government is in violation of all the conventions and regulation of international law on the protection and the security of diplomatic premises in all situations, and the responsibility for the action, as well as compensation for damage done to the building and injuries to the embassy staff, lies with the government of Saudi Arabia.” | Mr. Ansari added: “This deliberate attempt by the Saudi government is in violation of all the conventions and regulation of international law on the protection and the security of diplomatic premises in all situations, and the responsibility for the action, as well as compensation for damage done to the building and injuries to the embassy staff, lies with the government of Saudi Arabia.” |
| The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen will investigate the accusation, said a spokesman for the coalition, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, according to Reuters. | The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen will investigate the accusation, said a spokesman for the coalition, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asseri, according to Reuters. |
| Despite the harsh political speech, an influential Iranian analyst hinted that the country would not retaliate. “Our patience with the Saudis has not yet worn out,” said the analyst, Hamid Reza Taraghi, who is close to hard-line Iranian leaders. “We continue to restrain ourselves.” | Despite the harsh political speech, an influential Iranian analyst hinted that the country would not retaliate. “Our patience with the Saudis has not yet worn out,” said the analyst, Hamid Reza Taraghi, who is close to hard-line Iranian leaders. “We continue to restrain ourselves.” |
| Still, the episode added another dimension to a dispute that has roiled the region since Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 men, including a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. | Still, the episode added another dimension to a dispute that has roiled the region since Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 men, including a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. |
| Enraged Iranians stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. Saudi Arabia responded by cutting ties with Iran, as did Bahrain and Sudan. Kuwait and Qatar recalled their ambassadors to Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, a significant trading partner of Iran’s, downgraded diplomatic relations. | Enraged Iranians stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. Saudi Arabia responded by cutting ties with Iran, as did Bahrain and Sudan. Kuwait and Qatar recalled their ambassadors to Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, a significant trading partner of Iran’s, downgraded diplomatic relations. |
| The dispute has threatened to disrupt the fragile negotiations to bring an end to Syria’s five-year-old civil war, as well as Iraq’s effort to repulse the Islamic State. | The dispute has threatened to disrupt the fragile negotiations to bring an end to Syria’s five-year-old civil war, as well as Iraq’s effort to repulse the Islamic State. |
| Earlier on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, a commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iran, warned Saudi Arabia that it would “face collapse in the near future” if it stayed on its current course. | Earlier on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, a commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iran, warned Saudi Arabia that it would “face collapse in the near future” if it stayed on its current course. |
| General Salami was speaking at a protest against Sheikh Nimr’s execution. He compared the Saudis to the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein — a Sunni leader of a majority-Shiite country who was toppled when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Mr. Hussein ordered the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Sadr, in 1980, inflaming sectarian tensions that persist to this day. | |
| “Saddam, in Iraq, took the same course, executed a leading cleric in Iraq and finally took resort in domestic suppression and aggression toward other countries, but ultimately his faith ended in humiliation,” General Salami said. | “Saddam, in Iraq, took the same course, executed a leading cleric in Iraq and finally took resort in domestic suppression and aggression toward other countries, but ultimately his faith ended in humiliation,” General Salami said. |
| “This regime, Saudi Arabia, has taken political refuge with the Americans,” he said, adding that the Saudi policies would create a “domino effect under which they will fall themselves.” | “This regime, Saudi Arabia, has taken political refuge with the Americans,” he said, adding that the Saudi policies would create a “domino effect under which they will fall themselves.” |