As I have repeatedly explained, the fight between Sunni and Shia is a fight to the savage death for who is the true Muslim. The Sunni versus Shia conflict is explained here. Iran is Shia and Saudi Arabia is Sunni. The Saudis executed a Shia cleric who was agitating for the overthrow of the Saudi government. Iran has been waging a proxy war against the Saudis in Yemen, Syria, etc.
Al-Qaeda preacher Faris al-Zahrani and Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr, who led anti-government actions, were among those 47 executed by the Saudi regime.
The Iranians, who systematically execute “enemies of the Islamic State,” got a taste of their own medicine.
Al Jazeera, a Sunni Muslim Brotherhood media organization, reported it this way:
In a press statement read out on state TV on Saturday, the Saudi ministry listed the names of all those it said were already convicted on charges of terrorism.
The death sentence given to Nimr al-Nimr, who led anti-government protests in the country’s east, was confirmed by the Supreme Court in October.
Faris al-Zahrani had been in custody ever since his detention near the Yemeni border in 2004 [Youtube]He was convicted of sedition, disobedience and bearing arms. Nimr did not deny the political charges against him, but said he never carried weapons or called for violence.
The execution prompted calls for demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and in other countries of the Middle East, but the brother of Nimr called for calm in Eastern Province.
“This action will spark anger of [Shia] youths” in Saudi Arabia, but “we reject violence and clashing with authorities,” said Mohammed al-Nimr.
Many of the other men executed had been linked to attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, blamed on al-Qaeda.
“Report: Iranians set fire to Saudi diplomatic mission after execution of Shi’ite cleric,” J Post, January 2, 2015
Arab-language media outlets are reporting on Saturday that enraged mobs of Iranians set fire to a Saudi diplomatic mission in Iran.
The Iranian regime has denounced its longtime Sunni rival Saudi Arabia after the government in Riyadh executed 47 people, among them a prominent Shi’ite cleric that was accused with fomenting sectarian unrest.
Courtesy of Pamela Geller.
