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 Saudi Arabia cut all ties with Iran on Sunday following the
kingdom's execution of prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Protesters in Iran and Iraq marched for a third day to denounce the
execution.
When asked what it would take for ties to be restored, Saudi U.N.
Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi told reporters: "Very simple - Iran
to cease and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of
other countries, including our own."
He added, "If they do so, we will of course have normal relations
with Iran. We are not natural-born enemies of Iran."
On Monday, Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran, following
Riyadh's example. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters
Riyadh would also halt air traffic and commercial relations between
the rival powers.
Jubeir blamed Iran's "aggressive policies" for the diplomatic
action, alluding to years of tension that spilled over on Saturday
night when Iranian protesters stormed the kingdom's embassy in
Tehran.
 The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of
Iranians, partially downgraded its relations but the other Gulf Arab
countries - Kuwait, Qatar and Oman - stayed above the fray.
Shi'ite Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using the attack on the embassy
as an "excuse" to sever ties and further increase sectarian
tensions.
A man was shot dead in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province late on
Sunday, and two Sunni mosques in Iraq's Shi'ite-majority Hilla
province were bombed in the fallout from the dispute between the
Middle East's top Sunni and Shi'ite powers.
But analysts said fears of a sectarian rupture across the Middle
East were premature, and the break in Saudi-Iran relations could be
more a symptom of existing strains than evidence of new ones.
"The downgrading of ties is not fundamentally a question of
responding to executions and the storming of an embassy... (but
rather) a function of a much deeper conflict between the two
states," said Julien Barnes-Dacey, senior policy fellow at the
European Council on Foreign Relations.
CALLS FOR RESTRAINT
Crude importer China declared itself "highly concerned" with the
developments, in a rare foray into Middle East diplomacy. The United
States and Germany called for restraint.
Russia offered to mediate an end to the dispute but a U.S. senior
State Department official said Iran and Saudi Arabia must work out
their differences themselves.
"It is not going to be helpful for us to own this process, certainly
to be seen to be driving it," the U.S. official said. "They have to
work this out between themselves if a solution to this tension is
going to be long-lasting and sustainable."
 Brent <LCOc1> jumped 4 percent early on worries about the tensions.
But the crude oil benchmark erased its gains and settled a few cents
lower as fears rose about the global economy and the Middle East
dispute looked unlikely to disrupt oil supplies immediately.
Stock markets across the Gulf dropped sharply, led by Qatar which
fell more than 2.5 percent, with geopolitical jitters outweighing
any benefit from stronger oil. SYRIA, YEMEN
The row threatened to derail efforts to end Syria's five-year-old
civil war, where Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab powers support
rebel groups against Iran-backed President Bashar al-Assad.
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"It was very difficult to get everybody around the table," White
House spokesman Josh Earnest said. "It certainly is going to be even
more difficult to get everybody back around the table if you have
the Saudis and the Iranians trading public barbs and public
expressions of antagonism."
Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in bringing together Syria's
political and armed opposition groups that would participate in
peace talks with Assad's government.
State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Washington
expected meetings between the warring parties in Syria to take place
as scheduled this month. The United Nations aims to hold talks on
Jan. 25 in Geneva.
Saudi U.N. Ambassador Mouallimi said his country's severing of ties
with Iran would not affect its efforts to secure peace in Syria and
Yemen. "We will attend the next Syria talks and we're not going to
boycott them because of Iran or anybody else for that matter," he
told reporters at the United Nations.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Saudi foreign minister
on Monday that Riyadh's decision to break off diplomatic ties with
Iran was extremely troubling.
The U.N. chief urged Saudi Arabia to renew a ceasefire it ended this
weekend with the Iran-allied Shi'ite Houthi group in Yemen that it
has been bombing for nine months.
Trade between Saudi Arabia and Iran is small compared with the size
of their economies, but some business is routed through the United
Arab Emirates; comprehensive figures are not available. Investment
ties are also minimal, though Saudi food conglomerate Savola
<2050.SE> has major manufacturing operations in Iran.
Saudi Arabia executed Nimr and three other Shi'ites on terrorism
charges on Saturday, alongside dozens of Sunni jihadists. Shi'ite
Iran hailed him as a "martyr" and warned Saudi Arabia's ruling Al
Saud family of "divine revenge".
Shi'ite groups united in condemnation of Saudi Arabia while Sunni
powers rallied behind the kingdom, hardening a sectarian split that
has torn apart communities across the Middle East and nourished the
jihadist ideology of Islamic State.
Western powers, many of which supply billions of dollars worth of
weaponry to Gulf Arab powers, tried to tamp down the tensions with
Iran but also deplored the executions, as human rights groups
strongly criticized Saudi Arabia's judicial process and protesters
gathered outside Saudi embassies.
(Additional reporting by Katie Paul, Noah Browning, Louis
Charbonneau at the United Nations, Tom Perry in Beirut and Maher
Chmaytelli in Baghdad; Editing by William Maclean, Howard Goller and
Lisa Shumaker)
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