Abstract
The explosion of diplomatic warfare between Saudi Arabia and Iran, caused by the execution of 47 prisoners by Riyadh, has come for some as a surprise, but the writing has been on the wall for some years. The current diplomatic row, fueled by Riyadh’s decision to execute Saudi Shi’ite Sheikh Nimr al Nimr, together with 46 others, and the ransacking by Iranian protesters of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, is just a sign of the internal and external conflicts in both countries. Since the execution of the Shi’ite sheikh, tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran has reached the boiling point. News emerged about Iranian claims that a Saudi-led coalition airstrike has struck the Iranian embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. Even though there are doubts about the validity of this claim, the tit-for-tat approach between the two regional power players has entered a new phase. At the same time, Bahrain, a staunch Saudi supporter facing its own Shi’ite uprising, has claimed that it has arrested a terrorist cell with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah. Bahrain claims that the cell was plotting bomb attacks.
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