Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Iran in biggest stand-off since 80s

Beirut

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in the biggest meltdown in relations between the two Middle Eastern power brokers in almost three decades, raising the spectre of deepening conflicts across the fragile region.

The Saudi government gave Iran's ambassador 48 hours to leave after protesters set its embassy in Teheran on fire at the weekend following the execution of Saudi cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a critic of the kingdom's treatment of its Shi'ite minority. He was one of 47 men given capital punishment in the Sunni nation for offences that included terrorism and political activism.

The clash between the sectarian rivals, two of the world's largest oil producers, exposes again the fault lines in the tinderbox region and risks worsening conflicts in Yemen and Syria, where Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran are fighting proxy wars. The oil…