NAIROBI/DOHA: Djibouti cut diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday, its foreign minister said, in response to the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran by Iranian protesters.
The tiny Horn of Africa nation, which is home to the United States’ only military base on the African continent, joins Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan in entirely severing relations with Shi’ite Muslim Iran.
“Djibouti cut its diplomatic ties with Iran out of solidarity with Saudi Arabia,” Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told Reuters in a text message.
Jordan summoned Iran’s envoy in Amman to condemn the protesters’ attack, while Kuwait recalled its own ambassador to Tehran. The United Arab Emirates partially downgraded its diplomatic relations with Tehran.
Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have spiralled since the execution of a Shi’ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran early on Sunday and Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, predicted “divine vengeance” for the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken opponent of the ruling Al Saud family.
Iran has accused the Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia of using the attack on the embassy as an “excuse” to sever ties and further increase sectarian tensions.
(Reporting by Edith Honan in Kenya and Tom Finn in Doha; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Reuters
