Iran summons Saudi diplomat after execution of Shi'ite cleric
Iran summoned Saudi Arabia's charge d'affaires in Tehran on Saturday to protest the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite cleric in the kingdom, Iranian state television said.
Nimr was executed alongside three other Shi'ites and dozens of alleged al Qaeda members, sparking anger among Saudi Arabia's minority Shi'ites. Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah also condemned the, calling it an "assassination" and blaming it on the United States and its allies' support for Riyadh. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and three other members of Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority were executed on Saturday alongside 43 Sunni jihadists, drawing condemnation by Shi'ites across the Middle East. The "real reason" for the execution was "that Sheikh Nimr... demanded the squandered rights of an oppressed people," Hezbollah said in a statement, apparently referring to Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority.
