Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa responded to widespread reactions on the recent tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran. "If Saudi Arabia decided to execute certain verdicts against crimes committed by some of its citizens, then it is an internal affair and no one is allowed to interfere in it," he said in an official statement Wednesday. "No one can deny or strip Saudi Arabia of its rights in maintaining its national security." According to Gomaa, Tehran is trying to draw the region into a sectarian war and mess with national security in Arab and Sunni countries and to launch its Persian empire instead. Egypt is home of the largest Sunni institution, Al-Azhar, and has been clearly against Shi'a doctrine extension. Al-Azhar cleric Ahmed Karima was banned and referred to investigations after giving religious lectures at Hawza, the Shi'a theological seminary, in 2014. Saudi Arabia announced Sunday boycotting all diplomatic ties with Iran and gave 48 hours notice for its diplomats to leave the country after angry Iranian protesters broke into the Saudi embassy in Tehran earlier the same day. Saudi Arabia had executed renowned Shi'a cleric Nimr Al-Nimr along with 47 other persons, including three other Shi'as and dozens accused of having affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameni said Sunday that Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge".
