The new year seems to have opened yet another chapter on Middle Eastern instability, as Saudi Arabia executed 47 prisoners including popular Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whom it accused of "foreign meddling." The beheadings opened a chasm with Iran on one side and most of the Arab Gulf states on the other.
After the Jan. 2 executions, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy annex in Tehran. Though Tehran publicly denounced the raid, Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran the next day. Iran responded in kind, expelling Saudi diplomats.