Tehran renames street near Saudi Embassy for executed cleric

TEHRAN, Iran – A semi-official news agency in Iran is reporting that Tehran’s City Council has voted to rename a street near the Saudi Embassy for a Shiite cleric executed by the Sunni-ruled kingdom in January.

The ISNA news agency says the council voted unanimously Tuesday to rename the Naaz Street after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi Arabia executed al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric and dissident, in January, along with 46 other prisoners. His execution sparked protests in Iran that saw demonstrators storm the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and another diplomatic post in the country.

Relations between the two countries, which back opposing sides in Syria’s civil war and in Yemen, were subsequently severed.

After al-Nimr’s execution, protesters had put up fake street signs renaming the street in front of the embassy for him.

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