Head of Basij:

we shall turn the life of Al-Saud into hell If Al-Nimr is executed

Rasa - The head of the Iranian Basij, General Muhammad Reza Naqdi, warned the Saudi authorities on Saturday that there would be repercussions for executing the opposition Shi'ite religious scholar.

News ID: 1440

Date: 21 October 2014 - 00:46

RNA - The head of the Iranian Organisation for the Mobilisation of the Oppressed, known in Persian as the Basij, General Muhammad Reza Naqdi, warned the Saudi authorities on Saturday that there would be repercussions for executing the opposition Shi'ite religious scholar, Baqir Al-Nimr, stressing that once the Saudi rulers have perpetrated this crime, it will not pass without a response.

According to Fars News Agency, Naqdi said that: "If Al-Saud commits such a crime against Sheikh Al-Nimr, its move will not remain unanswered and Muslims will change this world to a hell for them."

He added that "the death sentence should be seen as a verdict issued by a blasphemous and sinister regime," rather than as an act by "a Sunni government against a top Shiite cleric".

The Iranian news agency said that Sheikh Al-Nimr "is accused of delivering anti-government speeches and defending political prisoners".

The Guardian newspaper reported that the senior Shiite cleric led protests in Qatif at the height of the Arab uprisings in 2011.

"Saudi Arabia's harsh treatment of a prominent Shiite cleric is only adding to existing sectarian discord and unrest," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Saudi Arabia's path to stability in the eastern province lies in ending systematic discrimination against Shiite citizens, not in death sentences."

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