On Oct. 15, Sheikh Nimr Bagher al-Nimr, a dissident Saudi Shiite cleric, was sentenced to death for sedition. The death sentence, which has the potential to further inflame sectarian tensions in the Middle East, has put the Hassan Rouhani administration on the defensive domestically. Rouhani, who with Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been lobbying for closer ties with Saudi Arabia, must face down conservative figures who have adopted a harsher tone against Saudi Arabia and are not looking toward a détente with the regional rival.
When Nimr’s death sentence was announced, it was harshly condemned by a number of conservative religious clerics in Iran. Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani said, "Saudi princes should not assume that the protests will come to an end with the execution of Sheikh Nimr." Ayatollah Mohammad Alavi Gorgani said, “It is unfortunate that the Saudi regime is treating its citizens with hostility instead of giving them justice." Ayatollah Hossein Nuri-Hamadani warned the Saudi officials that such sentences will upset Shiites around the world, and Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi also warned that such actions would have "unpredictable results."
