Saudi Arabia cutting ties will not distract from 'big mistake' of cleric execution: Iran

Riyadh's execution of Nimr al-Nimr sparked widespread protests in Iran.

Tehran

: Saudi Arabia's decision to cut ties with Iran after attacks on the kingdom's diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic will not distract from Riyadh's -"big mistake-" of executing a top Shiite cleric, a senior Iranian official said Monday.

-"By deciding to sever (diplomatic) relations, Saudi Arabia cannot make (the world) forget its big mistake of executing a cleric,-" deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, according to the IRNA agency.

He added that Saudi Arabia had committed a -"strategic error in adopting rash and hasty decisions that have spread instability and caused the development of terrorism in the region-".

Riyadh's execution of Nimr al-Nimr sparked widespread protests across Shiite-majority countries in the Middle East, with a mob attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city Mashhad.

The assaults on the diplomatic missions spurred the Sunni Arab kingdom to sever ties with Shiite-majority Iran, its long-time regional rival.

In recent years, the two countries have been divided over the war in Syria, where Iran is backing the regime, and the conflict in Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite rebels.

Abdollahian also said Saudi Arabia was -"undermining the interests of its own people and the Muslim people of the region with its plot to bring down oil prices-", referencing crude prices that are near multi-year lows.

Iran and Saudi are major producers, but Riyadh's current level of crude output far outpaces that of the Islamic Republic and it is seen as a heavyweight in its ability to help set the direction of oil prices.