On Saturday, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy, along with 46 other people convicted of terrorism.

Sheikh al-Nimr was sentenced to death on charges of inciting hatred and disobedience to the Saudi king in 2014.

Sheikh Nimr was a vocal supporter of the mass pro-democracy protests against Riyadh, which erupted in Eastern Province in 2011, where a Shiite majority has long complained of marginalization.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who condemned Saudi Arabia’s “non-Islamic and inhuman” act of executing Sheikh Nimr, has said the move was in line with Riyadh’s sectarian policies.

"The sensational execution in Saudi Arabia has demonstrated that it is trying to create not an anti-Daesh but an anti-Shiite coalition," Pushkov said in a Twitter posting, Sputnik News reported.

In late 2015, Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of a so-called "Islamic" coalition to fight terrorism in the Middle East, including ISIL terrorist group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries.