TEHRAN - Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister, tweeted on Monday that Saudi Arabia’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with Iran was a “distinctly bad move” that would raise tensions in the region, the YJC reported.

Saudi Arabia expelled Iranian diplomats from its soil following protests against Riyadh’s execution of a Shia cleric.

Western governments and human rights groups had appealed to Saudi Arabia not to go ahead with the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the Saudi royal family.

Washington had kept its concerns private but had also voiced its dismay at plans to mete out the death penalty to the cleric, who was executed along with 46 others on Saturday, U.S. officials said.

SP/P