Execution of Nimr Al-Nimr forces the sectarian divide ever wider

The execution of 47 Islamist militants the authorities had linked to terrorism was filled with symbolism: for Riyadh it marked the kingdom’s determination to show zero tolerance of terrorism and extremist Sunni or Shia takfiri (deviant) ideology; in Iran it was seen as yet another provocation against the region’s Shiite populations, leading radicals to invade Saudi legations in Tehran and Mashhad. A majority of those who were executed at 12 locations on 2 January (45 Saudis, an Egyptian and a Chadian) had been convicted of involvement with Al-Qaeda, but four were Shia activists including dissident cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir Al- Nimr, now elevated to martyr status in the Shiite pantheon.