Saudi-Iranian Tensions As Depicted In Cartoons

The escalation in Saudi-Iranian tension resulting from the events that began with Saudi Arabia's January 2, 2016 execution of senior Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, along with 46 other prisoners; the subsequent attacks in Iran on Saudi legations; and Saudi Arabia's severing of diplomatic ties with Iran[1] is also being expressed in cartoons. The cartoons are appearing in the press of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries as well as in the Iranian press.

Many of the cartoons in the Saudi and Gulf press blamed the attacks by protestors on the Saudi legations on Iran itself, and branded the country as collaborating with terrorism. Some cartoons dealt with the repercussions of Saudi Arabia's severing of ties with Iran, while others attacked what they depicted as the blatant hypocrisy of Iran's condemnation of the Saudi executions, or portrayed Iran as bent on harming the Gulf countries.

At the same time, the Iranian press published numerous cartoons conveying Iran's harsh condemnation of Sheikh Al-Nimr's execution. Some showed the Saudi regime as cruelly violating human rights, and others showed the execution as boomeranging against the Saudi regime and perhaps causing its downfall. Still others expressed the claim that Israel and the U.S. were behind the Saudi decision-making. Additionally, some Iranian cartoons criticized the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), of which Saudi Arabia is a leading member, for helping the country cover up its human rights violations. Some cartoons expressed resentment at what they depicted as Western hypocrisy in considering punishments implemented in Saudi Arabia as different than the identical punishments implemented by the Islamic State (ISIS).

This report will review cartoons in the Saudi, Gulf, and Iranian press expressing Saudi-Iranian tensions:

Anti-Iran Cartoons In The Saudi And Gulf Press

Iran Is Responsible For The Attack On The Saudi Embassy in Tehran

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei behind the protestors who attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran (Image: Al-Eqtisadiah. Saudi Arabia, January 4, 2016)

Iran, relying on "sectarianism" from "Hell," is responsible for the torching of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran (Image: Al-Madina. Saudi Arabia, January 4, 2016)

 
Iran operated the protestors who attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran (Image: Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2016)

Iran Is Aiding, Abetting, And Nurturing Terrorism

 
Saudi Arabia chops down "terrorism" as Iran nurtures it (Image: Al-Eqtisaiah, Saudi Arabia, January 3, 2016)

 
Iran, the mother of "terrorism" (Image: Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 4, 2016)

 
Iran feeds "terrorism" (Image: Al-Sharq, Saudi Arabia, January 5, 2016)

 
Iran = ISIS (Image: 'Okaz, Saudi Arabia, January 4, 2016)

 

Repercussions Of Saudi Arabia's Severance Of Diplomatic Ties With Iran

 
Iran about to fall into the abyss following Saudi severance of ties with it (Image: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2015)

 
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan, and Djibouti boot Iranian ambassadors back to Iran (Images: right, Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 6, 2016; left, Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2016)

 
The severance of ties between the Gulf countries and Iran leads to Iran's fall (Image: Akhbar Al-Khaleej, Bahrain, January 6, 2016)

 
The Gulf countries give Iran a red card and send its ambassadors packing (Image: Al-Bayan, UAE, January 5, 2016)

 
Saudi Arabia prevents Iran from continuing to set the world on fire (Image: 'Okaz, Saudi Arabia, January 6, 2016)

 

Iran's Condemnation Of Sheikh Al-Nimr's Execution By Saudi Arabia Shows Iran's Hypocrisy

 
An enraged Iran shouts "No to the punishment of 'terrorists' in Saudi Arabia!!!" as it executes minority Ahwazis (Image: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2016)

 
Iran, in second place globally for number of executions it carries out, condemns Saudi Arabia for "execution of innocent terrorists!!!!" (Image: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia, January 6, 2016)

 
"Iran, where millions are executed by hanging" (Image Akhbar Al-Khaleej, Bahrain, January 7, 2016)

 
Cartoon in London-based UAE daily: Iran's crocodile tears over Sheikh Al-Nimr as it hangs people from construction cranes (Image: Al-'Arab, London, January 5, 2016)

 
Iran, the hangman, protests against Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Al-Nimr (Image: Makka, Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2016)

 
Cartoon in London-based UAE daily: Senior Iranian officials protest against Sheikh Al-Nimr's execution as they execute minority Sunnis, Ahwazis, and Baluchis (Image: Al-'Arab, London, January 4, 2016)

 
Iran protests against Saudi executions as it itself conducts executions (Image: Makka, Saudi Arabia, January 8, 2016)

 

Iran Seeks To Take Over Gulf Countries

 
Iran prepares to gobble up the Gulf countries (Image: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, January 5, 2016)

 
"The Iranian penetration" of the Gulf countries is aimed at eliminating them (Image: Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia January 4, 2016)

 

Anti-Saudi Cartoons In The Iranian Press

The Saudi Regime's Cruel Policies

 
The sleeping Saudi regime is drowning in blood (Image: Fars, Iran, January 3, 2016)

 
Sheikh Al-Nimr's blood drips from the Saudi sword (Image: Javanonline.ir., January 3, 2016)

 
Saudi King Salman the hangman (Image: Javanonline.ir., January 4, 2016)

 
Under "King Salman," "the Saudi dictatorial kingdom" is becoming a Nazi state (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 11, 2016)

 

Sheikh Al-Nimr's Execution Will Boomerang On The Saudi Regime, Causing Its Demise

 
The Saudi regime drowns in Sheikh Al-Nimr's blood (Image: Javanonline.ir., January 6, 2016 )

 
Sheikh Al-Nimr's blood, in the form of the forked sword of Imam Ali, will smite the Saudi regime. (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 4, 2016)

 
Birds drop stones on the Saudi regime as punishment for Sheikh Al-Nimr's execution - a reference to the Koranic story about the similar punishment of the Ethiopian king when he came to conquer Mecca the year the Prophet Muhammad was born; the incident was considered an omen. (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 4, 2016)

 
The Saudi regime's executions result in its own beheading (Image: Fars, Iran January 3, 2016)

 
The Saudi regime's fate (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 10, 2016)

 

Saudi Arabia Serves Israel, The U.S.

 
Israel's puppet Saudi Arabia executes Sheikh Al-Nimr, and at the same time cuts off Israel's hand (Image: Fars, Iran January 3, 2016)

The Saudi executions are an Israeli double-edged razor blade (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 10, 2016)

 
Israel, driving an old American car, says to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Sudan: "If you sever ties with Iran, I will take you somewhere good" - in response, they prod each other, "You be the one to break off [ties with Iran]" (Image: Fars, Iran January 5, 2016)

 

Criticism Of U.S., U.N. For Covering Up Saudi Arabia's Crimes

 
The U.S. and U.K. help Saudi Arabia, chair of the UNHRC panel that appoints senior officials who draft international human rights standards and write reports on violations, to clean up the blood of those it executes (Image: Facebook.com/Iran.Military, January 7, 2016)

The satanic Saudi regime executes Sheikh Al-Nimr the angel, on a block with the UNHRC emblem (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 4, 2016)

 
The Saudi regime executes Sheikh Al-Nimr over the UNHRC emblem (Image: Fars, Iran January 5, 2016)

 
Saudi Arabia uses the UN to wipe up the blood from its executions (Image: Entekhab, Iran, Janauary 6, 2016)

While ISIS and Saudi Arabia carry out the same punishments, the former is considered (by the U.S.) a "barbaric death cult" and the latter a "friend and ally" (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 5, 2016) 

 
The Saudi regime sharpens its beheading sword with help from the E.U. and U.S. (Image: Tasnim, Iran, January 12, 2016)

 

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