BERLIN (Sputnik) – Earlier on Monday, Bahrain announced the decision to cut its diplomatic relations with Iran and to request all Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.
“I can’t confirm this yet, but if so, it is a bad sign, indicating a deepening of religious differences between Shiites and Sunnis and leading…to further destabilization in the region,” Schaefer told journalists.
Bahrain’s decision was reportedly prompted by attacks on Saudi Arabia diplomatic missions in Iran carried out by Iranian protesters in the wake of the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh al-Nimr was among 47 people executed Saturday for alleged terrorism-related offenses. The cleric had been vocal in his criticism of the Sunni-ruled monarchy during the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite-majority eastern province.
