THE diplomatic crisis surrounding Saudi Arabia and Iran widened yesterday as Kuwait recalled its ambassador to Tehran in the face of growing international concern.

    Joining Riyadh and its Sunni Arab allies in taking diplomatic action, Kuwait said it was downgrading ties with Iran over a weekend attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.

    Kuwait’s move came after the U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the attack, carried out by protesters angry over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

    Tensions between Saudi Arabia, the main Sunni power, and Shiite-dominated Iran have erupted this week into a full-blown diplomatic crisis, sparking widespread worries of regional instability.

    Washington and other Western powers have called for calm amid fears the dispute could raise sectarian tensions across the Middle East and derail efforts to resolve conflicts from Syria to Yemen.

    The Security Council joined those calls late Monday, issuing a statement urging all sides to “take steps to reduce tensions in the region.”

    The statement by the 15-member council condemned “in the strongest terms” the attacks which saw protesters firebomb the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Iran’s second-biggest city Masshad.

    But the council made no mention of the event that set off the crisis — Saudi Arabia’s execution Saturday of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a cleric and activist whose death sparked widespread protests among Shiites.

    Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran in protest at the attacks Sunday and has severed air links with Iran.

    Some of its allies among Sunni Arab states followed suit, with Bahrain and Sudan breaking off ties and the United Arab Emirates downgrading relations Monday.

    Kuwait said yesterday the embassy attacks “represent a flagrant breach of international agreements and norms and a grave violation of Iran’s international commitments.”

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has condemned the attacks and Tehran’s mission to the U.N. vowed in a letter to the Security Council to “take necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future.”

    The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, headed to Riyadh and Tehran to defuse tensions, worried that the row would undermine growing efforts to resolve that country’s conflict.

    Iran and Saudi Arabia are on opposing ends of a range of crucial Middle East issues, including the war in Syria — where Tehran backs President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and Riyadh supports rebel forces — and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite insurgents.

    Despite the fears, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.N., Abdallah al-Mouallimi, insisted the row would not have an impact on efforts to resolve regional conflicts.  (SD-Agencies)