SaudiArabia,Irantension:KuwaitsidesagainstTehranCNN.com
Regions +
Story highlights
NEW: U.N. envoy: Saudi Arabia says regional
tensions won't affect the Syria peace talks
NEW: John Kerry is "very concerned with the
direction this is going," a U.S. official says
Saudi Arabia executed 47, including a top
Shiite cleric, on terrorism charges; Iranians
protested
Iran's pres.: Riyadh cannot cover its crime by severing political relations with #Iran
pic.twitter.com/hyoTaflBIm
Press TV (@PressTV) January 5, 2016
On Tuesday, for instance, Kuwait, whose ruling family and most of its citizens are Sunni, recalled its
ambassador to Tehran, citing "torching and sabotage activities" of Iranian demonstrators.
"Such action constitutes a flagrant breach of international conventions and violation of Iran's international
commitment over security and safety of diplomatic missions on its lands," the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said.
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Despite such assurances, many in the region are siding with the Saudis.
In addition to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bahrain -- where a Sunni monarch rules over a predominantly Shiite
nation -- also severed diplomatic ties with Iran on the heels of the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in
Iran.
The United Arab Emirates recalled its ambassador, while Sudan expelled the Iranian ambassador and the
entire Iranian diplomatic mission in the country.
Yet Rouhani, like other Iranian officials, has stood his ground.
"Criticism should not be responded to with beheading," the Iranian President said. "We hope that European
countries, which always react to issues of human rights, would act on their human rights-related obligations
in this case, too."
Opinion: How to ease Iran-Saudi Arabia crisis
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SaudiArabia,Irantension:KuwaitsidesagainstTehranCNN.com
That's the stance being taken by the United States, with Secretary of State John Kerry reaching out to the
Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers to try to calm tensions.
"The Secretary is very concerned with the direction this thing is going," a senior State Department official
said. "It's very unsettling to him that so many nations are choosing not to engage.
"With so much turmoil in the region, the last thing we need is for people not to be having conversations."
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday morning that his government had "expressed our
concerns privately and publicly to the Saudi leaders" about the legal process and executions for several
months. But now that they've happened, Kirby said key regional players should use dialogue to work out
their differences and not lose focus on other looming issues -- namely the fight against ISIS and ending
Syria's years-long civil war.
"We don't want this to impact operations against ISIL, and so far it is not," Kirby told CNN's "New Day,"
using another acronym for ISIS. "We don't want this to affect the political transition in Syria and the move to
get the opposition groups at the table" with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"So far, that hasn't changed either. But we're mindful of the potential effects here, and that is why we're
working ... so hard."
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