The Ayatollah Ali Khameni, Supreme Leader of theIran, compare Saudi Arabia atIsis and invokes "divine revenge" against the Sunni country, guilty of having executed the Shiite religious opponent Nimr al Nimr along with 46 other people. From him, Riyadh responds to the "clamorous interference" by accusing Tehran of being a "sponsor of terror", before to withdraw diplomatic personnel and to declare relations broken with the rival country.
Yesterday Khamenei, in his second sentence after Saturday's execution, remarked that Al Nimr had "neither incited violence nor plotted against the government", two crimes explicitly mentioned in the Koran. Iran's Supreme Leader then said that "the blood of this unjustly shed martyr will soon show the consequences of him and divine vengeance will fall upon Saudi politicians."
On his website, e Khamenei also compared Saudi Arabia to ISIS, showing two half-figures of executioners side by side, one dressed in white like the Saudis, the other in black like the militants of the Islamic State, and asking "what is the difference?".
For the Saudi Foreign Ministry, however, "the Iranian regime is the last regime in the world that can accuse others: it is a state that sponsors terror", i.e. Shiite militias and parties with a military wing like Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia then pointed out that among the 47 "terrorists" executed on Saturday also included Sunnis and Al Qaeda militants such as Adel al Dhubaiti, the author of the attack in June 2004 against BBC journalist Frank Gardner, who was left paralysed.
The escalation of the confrontation between Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia has caused a rebound in the oil prices: Brent is now trading at 37,95 dollars a barrel (+1,8%) after having touched 39 dollars, American Wti is trading at 37,5 dollars (+1,3%).
