Al-Nimr was a central figure in Shiite protests that erupted in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister announced on Saturday to cut diplomatic ties with Iran and asked all Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said he informed the UN Security Council of the attack on the Saudi diplomatic mission in Iran late Saturday, adding that those Saudi diplomats reached Dubai, the UAE, safely.
He accused the Iranian authorities of not taking any measure to prevent the attacks against the embassy in Tehran and the consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad.
On Saturday, angry Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi diplomat mission against the Saudi execution of 47 individuals over terrorism charges, including a Saudi Shia cleric, Namir Al Namir, a member of Saudi Shia community.
The attacks were a violation to the international agreements, the minister said, also referring to the Iranians’ previous attacks on the US and British embassies.
He also accused Iran of providing protection for Al-Qaeda through weapon trafficking.
Iran’s top leader on Sunday warned Saudi Arabia of “divine revenge” over the execution of the Shiite cleric Al-Nimr. He was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012, and his execution drew condemnation from Shiites across the region.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the execution in a statement on his website, saying al-Nimr “neither invited people to take up arms nor hatched covert plots. The only thing he did was public criticism.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said that by condemning the execution, Iran had “revealed its true face represented in support for terrorism.”
The statement accused Tehran of “blind sectarianism” and said that “by its defence of terrorist acts” Iran is a “partner in their crimes in the entire region.”
Al-Nimr was convicted of terrorism charges but denied ever advocating violence.
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are locked in a bitter rivalry, and support opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen. Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting “terrorism” in part because it backs Syrian rebel groups, while Riyadh points to Iran’s support for the Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shiite militant groups in the region.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned Iran’s envoy to the kingdom to protest
the critical Iranian reaction to the sheikh’s execution, saying it represented “blatant interference” in its internal affairs.