Many friendly countries to Saudi Arabia have either ruptured diplomatic relations with Iran or downgraded them.

The United Nations Organisation, United States of America, Turkey and Russia among other countries are severally calling for calm in the worsening conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The UN's special international envoy for peace in Syria, Staffan de Mistura, BBC reported, is holding talks in Iran and Saudi Arabia and will be hoping the storm will blow over before a major peace conference on Syria is held towards the end of  January 2016. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, RFI said, has called the Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran and Saudi Arabia. RFI further reported Russian Foreign Ministry sources as saying that Russia was ready to mediate in the conflict. The source said Russia has called on the two countries to engage in dialogue to avoid a further escalation of the conflict.

The conflict that started on Saturday, January 2, 2016 when a Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was executed in Saudi Arabia, has spiraled into an unprecedented regional crisis. The immediate response in Iran was the ransacking and setting alight the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the capital, Teheran. Saudi Arabia on Sunday ruptured diplomatic relations with Iran. Saudi authorities also said that all commercial and air traffic links were being cut and that Saudi citizens were banned from travelling to Iran.

As the conflict deepens, Saudi allied have joined the country in either rupturing diplomatic relations with Iran or downgrading them. For instance, Kuwait yesterday, January 5, 2016 announced that it was recalling its ambassador to Iran. The Kuwaiti government, BBC reported, said it was recalling its ambassador from the Iranian capital, describing the attacks as a "flagrant breach of international norms". Before Kuwait, other Arab States had shown solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates had earlier announced that they were downgrading their diplomatic teams in Iran.