After the Execution of Shia Cleric, Saudi Embassy in Tehran Attacked

"Saudi Embassy Attacked In Tehran"

The Saudi embassy in Tehran has come under attack from petrol bomb throwers amid a backlash against the execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

Video footage posted on Twitter shows Molotov cocktails hitting the front of the mission and other pictures on social media show the building on fire.

There was fierce criticism of Saudi Arabia after it executed Nimr al Nimr and 46 other people at prisons around the country.

The Saudi army prepares to go into Qatif

The 56-year-old was a driving force behind the anti-government protests in the east of the Sunni-ruled country during the Arab Spring in 2011.

Iran's foreign ministry called for calm as police dispersed a large crowd that gathered outside the embassy in the Iranian capital, some of whom later broke into the building.

"Protest Against Execution Of Cleric"

There have also been outbreaks of unrest in Bahrain, where demonstrators took to the streets, and in the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad, where the Saudi consulate was the scene of protests.

Iran is ruled by a majority Shia-led government.

Pictures posted on social media showed what appeared to be troops moving into Saudi areas where the Shia minority were due to protest.

It came despite an appeal by Mr Nimr's brother who called for a "peaceful" response to the execution, saying the family did not want to see further bloodshed.

The United States warned Saudi Arabia, which has a Sunni Muslim majority, that its execution of Mr Nimr "risks exacerbating sectarian tensions."

The list of those executed did not include Mr Nimr's nephew, Ali al Nimr, who was 17 when he was arrested in 2012.

Reports he had been sentenced to death sparked global outrage because of his age and the severity of the punishment.

 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to intervene. The UK has close ties with Saudi Arabia.

Most on the list were detained after a series of attacks by al Qaeda between 2003 and 2006 in which hundreds of people were killed. Four, including Mr Nimr, were Shias accused of shooting policemen.

All but two - an Egyptian and a Chadian - were Saudi nationals. The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, with four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al Sheikh, said taking their lives was a "mercy to the prisoners" as it would save them from committing more evil acts.

Iran's Foreign Ministry warned the kingdom would "pay a high price", while a leading Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, predicted the repercussions will "wipe" the Saudi ruling family "from the pages of history".

That view was shared by former Iraqi PM Nouri al Maliki who said in a statement Mr Nimr's death "will topple the Saudi regime".

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah called it an "assassination" and the country's Supreme Islamic Shia Council described it as a "grave mistake".

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The criticisms prompted the Saudi government to accuse Iran of sponsoring terrorism and having no shame.

"The Iranian regime is the last regime in the world that could accuse others of supporting terrorism, considering that (Iran) is a state that sponsors terror, and is condemned by the United Nations and many countries," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

In the UK, the Foreign Office said the UK opposes the death sentence in all cases and added that: "The Foreign Secretary regularly raises human rights issues with his counterparts in countries of concern, including Saudi Arabia."

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said carrying out the death sentence on Mr Nimr was "profoundly wrong".

A demonstration was held outside the Saudi embassy in London in protest at the executions.

Mr Nimr's brother Mohammed al Nimr told Reuters: "We hope that any reactions would be confined to a peaceful framework. No one should have any reaction outside this peaceful framework. Enough bloodshed."

Last year 157 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia, compared to 90 in 2014.

Credit: SKY News