![An Iranian woman holds up a poster of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr at a protest, Tehran, Iran, Jan. 4, 2016 (AP photo by Vahid Salemi).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/l_iran_protest_01052016_1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
The shocking news that Saudi Arabia executed 47 people over the weekend, including Shiite cleric and opposition figure Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, got the new year off to a tense start in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. The executions have already caused a worsening of Saudi-Iran relations and foreshadow heightened sectarian-driven tensions across the region. But there are other consequences as well. Forty-seven convicted criminals, most of them charged with terrorism by a special court created in 2008, were executed by beheading and firing squad on Jan. 2 in multiple locations in the kingdom. Most were Sunni radicals, affiliated […]