The execution of 37 Saudi citizens does not bode well for 'reforms' in Saudi Arabia and can also destabilise the region at large Opinion | GiorgioCafiero
. That three of those who were beheaded yesterday were minors when they committed their alleged crimes and that the executed made confessions in custody, likely after being tortured, further contributed to the outcry from human rights organisations which were quick to condemn this mass execution.
How will the governments in Iran and Iraq—as well as various non-state actors related to these countries—respond to this latest wave of beheadings?in Riyadh-Tehran relations with Saudi Arabia and several of the kingdom’s regional allies cutting off diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic. Because Sheikh Nimr Baqir al Nimr was among those executed in 2016, his death met a furious and emotive response from Shia Muslims throughout the Middle East and other regions.
At this conference, which marked a rare meeting of representatives of the Saudi and Iranian governments, all parties agreed to work to preserve Iraq’s cohesion and stability. Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi’s recent visits to both Saudi Arabia and Iran in the lead up to this conference signalled Baghdad’s keenness to, at least, try to drive both countries closer to a badly-needed dialogue that has been absent for years.
Without question, an inflammatory Iranian response to yesterday’s executions risks further raising the region’s sectarian temperatures while severely eroding any basis for optimism regarding a detente between the Persian Gulf’s two central powers. Tehran’s overall restrained response to the US government’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization suggests that Iran’s leadership is fully aware of the dangers of being baited into escalation. But it is worth asking how much longer Iran will continue with restraint, especially given the influence of hardliners in Tehran who are the political benefactors of Trump’s “maximum pressure” agenda.
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