Khartoum, Sudan: Sudan said on Monday that it is cutting diplomatic relations with Iran after Gulf ally Saudi Arabia did the same amid mounting tensions between Riyadh and Tehran over the execution of a Shia cleric.

‘The Sudanese government announces the cutting of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the decision was taken ‘in the wake of the brutal attack on the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad,’ which it said was ‘clear abuse of international law’.

The move came after Saudi Arabia cut links with the Islamic republic on Sunday, amid escalating tensions triggered by the execution of a Shia cleric in the Sunni-ruled kingdom at the weekend.

Bahrain also cut its ties with Shiite-dominated Iran on Monday, and the United Arab Emirates downgraded relations with the Islamic republic.

Sudan was seen as enjoying generally good relations with Iran until September 2014, when it shut Iranian cultural centres in Khartoum.

Khartoum also moved closer to Sunni Gulf states in March last year when it announced it was joining the Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Shia Huthi rebels in Yemen.