Saudi Arabia severs ties with Iran

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had severed ties
with Iran over the storming of the Saudi embassy
in Tehran, in a worsening diplomatic crisis
between the regional rivals following the
kingdom's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news
conference Iran's diplomatic mission and related
entities in Saudi Arabia had been given 48 hours
to leave. He said Riyadh would not allow the
Islamic Republic to undermine the Sunni
kingdom's security.
Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in
Tehran early on Sunday and Shi'ite Muslim Iran's
top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, predicted
"divine vengeance" for the execution of Sheikh
Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken opponent of the
kingdom's ruling Al Saudi family.
Jubeir said the attack in Tehran was in line with
what he said were earlier Iranian assaults on
foreign embassies there and with Iranian policies
of destabilising the region by creating "terrorist
cells" in Saudi Arabia.