White House Urges Iran and Saudi Arabia to simmer down tensions stemming from mass execution of clerics

The White House continues to be concerned about the tension that has been building up between Saudi Arabia and Iran and has asked both the countries to simmer down to avoid further violence.

According to Time, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, "We do continue to be concerned about the need for both the Iranians and the Saudis to deescalate the situation in the Middle East. He said they are urging both sides to show restraint and not exacerbate the tensions.

The tensions stemmed from Saudi Arabia's execution of Nimr al Nimr, who is an influential Shiite cleric and is a popular critic of the Saudi monarchy. Iranians were furious with the execution and reacted by storming the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. This led to Saudi Arabia breaking ties with Iran.

"We do continue to be concerned about the need for both the Iranians and the Saudis to de-escalate the situation. We are urging all sides to show some restraint and to not further inflame tensions that are on quite vivid display in the region," said Earnest in a report by Yahoo. US Secretary of State John Kerry had contacted Iranian and US diplomatic officials to enter into talks with Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador Abdallah al-Moualimi said his country supports efforts to bring peace in Syria and Yemen, and the tensions between Arabia and Iran will have no effects on this mission. Al-Moualimi blamed Iran's interference with Saudi Arabia's internal affairs on Arab countries. He said relations can be patched if Iran will cease and desist from interfering from their activities.

"We are hopeful that it won't," Earnest said. "It is so clearly in the interests of both parties to advance a political solution to the situation inside of Syria."

The White House, however, isn't concerned that the tension between Saudi and Iran will have effects on the fight against ISIS. 

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simmer down tensions, mass execution of clerics, execution of Nimr al Nimr, White House, Iran, Saudi Arabia

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