Saudi Arabia cancels all flights to and from Iran

Iranian demonstrators chant slogans and hold anti-Saudi placards and flags during a rally to protest the execution by Saudi Arabia last week of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Saudi Shiite cleric, by Saudi Arabia, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. (Source: AP)

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said today it was cutting all air links with Iran after Riyadh severed diplomatic ties with Tehran amid a mounting diplomatic row.

The authority said that following the kingdom’s decision to cut diplomatic relations, it had informed all airlines operating in Saudi Arabia it was “suspending and preventing all their flights to and from Iran,” according to a statement carried by state news agency SPA.