Tehran, Jan 9, IRNA � The US newspaper New York Times said that the execution of the �popular Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 other prisoners was about the worst way Saudi Arabia could have started what promises to be a grim and tumultuous year in the kingdom and across the Middle East.�


The newspaper said, �It is hard to imagine that the Sunni rulers of the kingdom were not aware of the sectarian passions the killings would unleash around the region. They may even have counted on the fierce reaction in Iran and elsewhere as a distraction from economic problems at home and to silence dissenters.�

It believed �America�s longstanding alliance with the House of Saud is no reason for the Obama administration to do anything less than clearly condemn this foolhardy and dangerous course with a more robust response than its call Monday for both sides to exercise restraint. �

Saying that �the immediate consequence of the executions was a burst of hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran,� the newspaper noted that �though Iranian leaders condemned the action and arrested protesters, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-led allies in Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates were quick to cut or curtail ties with Iran.�

However, it added �the executions were not out of character for Saudi Arabia. The country has a dismal human rights record with its application of stern Islamic law and its repression of women and practitioners of religious traditions other than Sunni Islam. The regime has become only more repressive in the years since the Arab Spring.�

The New York Times noted that according to Human Rights Watch, �the mass execution this weekend followed a year in which 158 people were executed, the most in recent history, largely based on vague laws and dubious trials.�

It wrote �Sheikh Nimr was a vocal critic of the regime and champion of the rights of the Shia minority in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, but not an advocate of violent action. �

By IRNA