Iran’s Supreme Leader Condemns Saudi Arabia’s Execution of Shiite Cleric

 

 Smoke billowed from the Saudi Embassy in Tehran on Saturday after Iranian protesters entered the building.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

The United Nations secretary general, the United States and the European Union have also condemned the execution of Sheikh Nimr, one of 47 people put to death on terrorism-related charges. The sheikh had been a vocal critic of the Sunni kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority.

“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.”

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.”

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.

“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.