<p>Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has announced that Saudi Arabia was severing diplomatic ties with Iran after demonstrators stormed its Tehran embassy to protest against Riyadh's execution of a Shiite cleric.<br /><br />Jubeir also said that all Iranian diplomats must leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.<br />Saudi Arabia "is breaking off diplomatic ties with Iran and requests that all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission leave... within 48 hours," he told a news conference yesterday.<br /><br />On Saturday, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in second city Mashhad amid protests at the execution in Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.<br /><br />The 56-year-old, a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, was among 47 convicted men put to death on Saturday in the kingdom.<br /><br />The others were Shiite activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks, with some beheaded and others shot by firing squad.<br />Iran arrested 44 people over the embassy assault, which President Hassan Rouhani described as "totally unjustifiable".<br /><br />But the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr's execution, saying "God will not forgive" Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.<br /><br />Jubeir responded yesterday by saying: "Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction."<br /><br />Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite- ruled Iran have been strained for decades, with Riyadh frequently accusing Tehran of interfering in Arab affairs.</p>.<p><br />Both countries are also divided over a raft of issues, namely the nearly five-year war in Syria, where Iran is allied with the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad, and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels. <br /></p>
<p>Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has announced that Saudi Arabia was severing diplomatic ties with Iran after demonstrators stormed its Tehran embassy to protest against Riyadh's execution of a Shiite cleric.<br /><br />Jubeir also said that all Iranian diplomats must leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.<br />Saudi Arabia "is breaking off diplomatic ties with Iran and requests that all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission leave... within 48 hours," he told a news conference yesterday.<br /><br />On Saturday, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in second city Mashhad amid protests at the execution in Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.<br /><br />The 56-year-old, a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, was among 47 convicted men put to death on Saturday in the kingdom.<br /><br />The others were Shiite activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks, with some beheaded and others shot by firing squad.<br />Iran arrested 44 people over the embassy assault, which President Hassan Rouhani described as "totally unjustifiable".<br /><br />But the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr's execution, saying "God will not forgive" Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.<br /><br />Jubeir responded yesterday by saying: "Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction."<br /><br />Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite- ruled Iran have been strained for decades, with Riyadh frequently accusing Tehran of interfering in Arab affairs.</p>.<p><br />Both countries are also divided over a raft of issues, namely the nearly five-year war in Syria, where Iran is allied with the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad, and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels. <br /></p>