Saudi Arabia

Iranian protesters are seen on social media storming Saudi missions in Iran after Saudi Arabia executed Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi’ite Muslim cleric, and 46 other prisoners. Haaretz reports: Demonstrators broke into Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran before being cleared away by the police, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported, after gathering there to denounce the kingdom for executing the cleric. Images shared on social media showed Iranian protesters starting fires at the embassy building. One photograph showed a room with smashed furniture purportedly inside the building.

Earlier today, Saudi Arabia announced it had staged its largest mass execution in 25 years. 

43 al-Qaeda conspirators were killed along with 4 Shiites accused of shooting policemen in the anti-government protests which broke out during the Arab Spring. Among the Shiites killed: prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

While we wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s possible to find a “silver lining” in the San Bernardino massacre, the fact that Tashfeen Malik’s connection to Saudi Arabia has focused the world’s attention on Riyadh’s role in promoting Sunni extremism means the tragedy will at least serve a kind of utilitarian purpose. 

Shiite leaders have lashed out over Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on terror charges. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was a vocal critic of the Saudi authorities, was executed on Saturday along with 46 other people. Shia-lead Iran said Saudi Arabia would pay a “high price” for the execution. A senior Iranian Ayatollah called the execution a “crime,” and  Tehran’s Foreign Ministry accused Riyadh of supporting terrorists.

Earlier today, we parsed Saudi Arabia’s budget report in order to determine if the kingdom’s fiscal nightmare was better or worse than market expectations. 

As it turns out, it was better. This year’s deficit is expected to come in at around 15-16% of GDP, considerably below the 20% some analysts feared. For 2016, it looks as though the number should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 13%, broadly in line with expectations.