Sudan cuts diplomatic ties with Iran

An Iranian protester holds a picture of Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as she takes part with others in a demonstration against the execution of Nimr in Saudi Arabia, outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran January, 3, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan said on Monday it was cutting diplomatic ties with Iran after the storming of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran and consulate building elsewhere in Iran. "In response to the barbaric attacks on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad ... the government of Sudan announces the immediate severing of ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran," a Foreign Ministry statement said. Saudi Arabia cut ties with regional rival Iran on Sunday after Iranian protesters attacked its mission there, angered by the Sunni Muslim kingdom's decision to execute a leading Shi'ite cleric. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Janet Lawrence)