Nigeria is under pressure by the Saudi Arabia regime to join other Sunni countries in severing ties with Iran.

Sudan and the tiny Island kingdom of Bahrain joined the United Arab Emirates to sever ties with Iran, with other Sunni nations issuing statements criticizing Iran.

Sudan Bahrain said on Monday they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday. The United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticising Iran.

A Nigerian foreign ministry source who refused to be named told SIGNAL on Tuesday that Nigeria may join other Muslim Sunni nations in severing diplomatic ties with Iran as well following Nigeria’s membership of the Saudi Arabia led Sunni Islamic Military Alliance.

Nigeria is a member of the 34-Member ‘Islamic Military Alliance’ Led by Saudi Arabia.

Al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, long denied advocating violence. News of his execution has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

In Iran, protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad which led to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority suspended all flights to and from Iran, saying the move was based on the kingdom's cutting of diplomatic ties.

According to the source, “Nobody was informed before Nigeria was pulled into the Islamic Military Alliance with Saudi Arabia. There are indications that the ongoing tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran will also affect Nigeria because of the Islamic Military Alliance Nigeria signed up to last month. But the Nigerian government must proceed carefully. We have no business getting ourselves involved in this Sunni-Shiite conflict among the Arab nations.”

Another Nigerian foreign ministry source who also pleaded anonymity disclosed to SIGNAL on Tuesday that it was unlikely that Nigeria will sever diplomatic ties with Iran.

"Nigeria has no business meddling with the Arab conflict. Our diplomatic stance as a nation has always been to maintain a non-aligned policy”, the source said.

The Sunni Saudi regime is in support of the Nigeria army Zaria crackdown on the Iran-backed Shia movement led by Sheikh Zakzaky.

"President Buhari is a Sunni Muslim", Kabir Daura who hails from the same village as the President disclosed.

The United Nations Security Council has also condemned the attacks on the Saudi diplomats that saw protestors ransack offices and set them on fire. A statement from the 15-member body made no mention, however, of the 47 executions in the Saudi kingdom on Saturday for “terrorism” offences.

World Powers including France, China and the US have issued calls for calm and a return to diplomacy. Moscow has offered itself as a mediator between the main players, citing its success in bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran to the negotiating table over Syria.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long vied for influence in the Middle East.

The rivalry deepened following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

Read More: http://www.opinionriver.com/saudi-arabia-pressuring-nigeria-to-join-other-sunni-muslim-countries-to-sever-ties-with-iran/

Gud

Not a good idea

Buhari must maintain neutrality in the fight between the Sunnis & the Shiites. Nigeria is not an islamic Nation so this is not our fight.