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FILE -A Bahraini anti-government protester holds up a picture of jailed Saudi Sheik Nimr al-Nimr during clashes with riot police in Sanabis.(Source: AP photo)
Saudi Arabia will pay “a high price” for executing prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari strongly condemned the execution, which came after his Shiite country repeatedly asked its Sunni-ruled rival to pardon the cleric.
Read | Saudi Arabia executes 47 terrorists, including Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr
“The Saudi government supports terrorist movements and extremists, but confronts domestic critics with oppression and execution… the Saudi government will pay a high price for following these policies,” he said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
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Nimr, 56, was a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in Eastern Province, where the Shiite minority of Saudi Arabia complains of marginalisation.
Read | Brother of executed Shi’ite cleric hopes any reaction to killing will be peaceful
“The execution of a figure like Sheikh al-Nimr, who had no means to follow his political and religious goals but through speaking out, merely shows the extent of irresponsibility and imprudence,” said Ansari.
Read | Iranian cleric predicts fall of Saudi government over Nimr execution
For its part, the Basij student militia connected to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards called for a demonstration on Sunday afternoon in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
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