Saudi airstrike hits Iranian embassy in Yemen

Iran yesterday accused Saudi warplanes of deliberately bombing its embassy in Yemen, in a new escalation of diplomatic tensions that have reverberated across the Middle East.

Shia-dominated Iran also announced a ban on imports of all products from its Sunni-ruled rival, following a dramatic chill in relations that has triggered international alarm.

It comes days after Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response to an arson attack on its own embassy in Tehran by protesters infuriated by Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

Tehran said an unspecified number of embassy staff had been wounded in the raid on the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa, which has been targeted by months of air strikes by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

"This deliberate action by Saudi Arabia is a violation of all international conventions that protect diplomatic missions," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said, quoted by state television.

"The Saudi government is responsible for the damage caused and for the situation of members of staff who were injured," Ansari added, without specifying when the alleged strike took place or the seriousness of the injuries.

"The Islamic republic reserves the right to pursue its interests in this matter," he said.

Iran also announced that a ban on Iranians travelling to the Saudi holy city of Makkah for the umrah pilgrimage would remain in place indefinitely, reports AFP.

Longstanding frictions between the Middle East's foremost Sunni and Shia Muslim powers exploded into a full-blown diplomatic crisis at the weekend when Riyadh executed Shia cleric and activist Nimr al-Nimr along with 46 others.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) told Saudi Arabia yesterday it would "collapse" in coming years if it kept pursuing what he called its sectarian policies in the region.

"The policies of the Saudi regime will have a domino effect and they will be buried under the avalanche they have created," the IRGC's second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

"If the Saudis do not correct their path, their regime will collapse in coming years."

Salami compared Saudi policies with those of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president overthrown by US forces in 2003, reports Reuters.

"The path the Saudi regime is taking is like the one Saddam took in the 1980s and 90s. He started a war with Iran, executed prominent clerics and top officials, suppressed dissidents and ended up having that miserable fate," he said.

China has sent an envoy to Saudi Arabia and Iran amid an escalating feud, the Chinese foreign ministry said yesterday, calling on all sides to exercise restraint.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming was currently in Saudi Arabia and would travel on to Iran, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

"We hope the situation in the Middle East can move in the direction of amelioration," Hua told reporters.

"We hope that all parties can remain calm and exercise restraint and appropriately resolve relevant issues via dialogue and consultation," Hua added.