Middle East

Saudi execution of Shia cleric threatens to deepen regional sectarian crisis

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was not among the "A-list" of Shia clerics in Saudi Arabia. But his execution has provoked a regional crisis, sparking condemnation from Iraq, Iran and even senior U.N. officials; violence against Saudi diplomatic premises in Iran; and a sudden rupture in relations between the Kingdom and the Islamic Republic.

Nimr's execution is also symbolic of a relatively new "hard-line" Saudi approach to dissent at home and Iran's influence in the region. Several analysts believe it will deepen an already dangerous divide between Sunni and Shia across the region.

Al-Nimr, 56, was a firebrand cleric who had spent a decade studying religion in Iran and had been arrested several times by Saudi authorities. He had often called for the secession of Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province, where the majority of the Kingdom's Shia live, describing the Sunnis living there as foreigners.