(P)GCC Condemns Attacks on Saudi Missions

In a Saturday statement issued at (P)GCC headquarters in the Saudi capital city of Riyadh, the US-backed council strongly slammed the attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Qatar’s the Peninsula reported on Sunday.

The Ministerial Council reaffirmed the (P)GCC States’ full solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah also participated in the (P)GCC extraordinary ministerial meeting.

The (P)GCC statement further slammed what it called “Iran’s plot to carry out terrorist blasts in Bahrain.”

The Council also deplored what it called as "Iran’s blatant interference in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia" after Iran’s remarks over the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

The angry protests in the two Iranian cities traced their roots to Saudi Arabia's execution of the leading cleric as well as the monarchy’s interventionist and destabilizing policies toward the region.

In response to the protests in Tehran, the Saudi government on January 3 announced that Riyadh was ceasing its diplomatic relations with Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in Tehran's first response that by cutting diplomatic ties, Riyadh could not cover up "its major mistake of executing Sheikh Nimr".

Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 prisoners, including Sheikh Nimr, drew global condemnation on January 2.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. The bodies were then hanged from gibbets in the most severe form of punishment available in the kingdom's law.

Sheikh Nimr had been detained in July 2012 on charges of delivering anti-regime speeches and defending political prisoners.