Iran Deplores Saudi Clampdown on Protesters
Iran on Tuesday voiced concern over the Saudi security forces' "violent actions" against demonstrators, including the killing of two people during the recent protests.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast cautioned that Tehran is "concerned by the violent actions carried out by the Saudi forces against religious figures and the population" in the Eastern parts of the country.
He further advised the Saudi government to take appropriate measures to "response to the legitimate demands of the public and refrain from using violence against the people".
Two protesters were killed in overnight clashes with police on Sunday night following the arrest of a prominent Shiite cleric, indicating rising unrests in the kingdom.
Dozens more protesters were wounded during the clashes that erupted when police opened fire to disperse a demonstration against the arrest of Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr, who was attacked in his car upon arrest earlier in the day.
The 53-year-old Nemr called in 2009 for separating the Eastern Province's Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates from Saudi Arabia and uniting them with Shiite-majority Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia's estimated two million Shiites, who frequently complain of marginalization, live mostly in the East, where the vast majority of the OPEC kingpin's huge oil reserves lie, but most people are grappling with poverty and poor living and health conditions.
Also on Sunday, a large number of Saudi people demonstrated in the capital city of Riyadh to demand the release of political prisoners, indicating that popular protests have now spread from the Eastern parts of the country to the other regions, including the capital.
The demonstrators called for the freedom of their relatives who are in different Saudi jails without a fair trial.
The protestors also chanted slogans against the policies of the Saudi regime.
Since February 2011, Saudi protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Eastern Provinces, mainly in the Qatif region and the town of Awamiyah, calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.
However, the demonstrations have turned into protests against the Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others.
The Saudi interior ministry issued a statement on March 5, 2011, prohibiting "all forms of demonstrations, marches or protests, and calls for them, because that contradicts the principles of the Islamic Sharia, the values and traditions of Saudi society, and results in disturbing public order and harming public and private interests."
In June, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered the country's security forces to go on a state of high alert due to what he called a "turbulent situation" in the region.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime "routinely represses expression critical of the government".