This will likely add another layer to the rotting stench that is the Middle East.......
Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" over its execution of a top Shiite cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday hours after protesters attacked the kingdom's embassy in Tehran.
"The unjustly spilt blood of this martyr will have quick consequences," Khamenei told clerics in the capital, referring to Nimr al-Nimr who was executed along with 46 other men on Saturday.
"This scholar neither encouraged people into armed action nor secretly conspired for plots but the only thing he did was utter public criticism rising from his religious zeal."
Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.
Protesters gathered in several cities across Iran on Saturday angered by the Gulf kingdom’s execution of al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 other prisoners.
Nimr had been the most vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family prior to mass protests that erupted in 2011. He called for regular demonstrations against the ruling elite. Shiites have long complained that they are victims of discrimination in the Sunni powerhouse. Nimr had often called for better protection for the country’s Shiite minority.
"This oppressed scholar had neither invited people to armed movement, nor was involved in covert plots," the ayatollah tweeted.
"The only act of SheikhNimr was outspoken criticism," he added, saying the "unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians".
Sheikh Nimr had been a figurehead in the anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring up to his arrest in 2012.
Iran - Saudi Arabia's main regional rival - has led condemnation among Shia communities over the execution.
https://www.rt.com/news/327755-saudi-embassy-iran-protest/
Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" over its execution of a top Shiite cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday hours after protesters attacked the kingdom's embassy in Tehran.
"The unjustly spilt blood of this martyr will have quick consequences," Khamenei told clerics in the capital, referring to Nimr al-Nimr who was executed along with 46 other men on Saturday.
"This scholar neither encouraged people into armed action nor secretly conspired for plots but the only thing he did was utter public criticism rising from his religious zeal."
Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.
Protesters gathered in several cities across Iran on Saturday angered by the Gulf kingdom’s execution of al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 other prisoners.
Nimr had been the most vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family prior to mass protests that erupted in 2011. He called for regular demonstrations against the ruling elite. Shiites have long complained that they are victims of discrimination in the Sunni powerhouse. Nimr had often called for better protection for the country’s Shiite minority.
"This oppressed scholar had neither invited people to armed movement, nor was involved in covert plots," the ayatollah tweeted.
"The only act of SheikhNimr was outspoken criticism," he added, saying the "unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians".
Sheikh Nimr had been a figurehead in the anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring up to his arrest in 2012.
Iran - Saudi Arabia's main regional rival - has led condemnation among Shia communities over the execution.
https://www.rt.com/news/327755-saudi-embassy-iran-protest/