The satirical picture showing Saudi and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) executioners standing side-by-side, with English captions reading “Any differences?” was published on his official website on Saturday. Khamenei also released a statement on Sunday promising “divine” retribution against Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia – Iran’s regional archrival.
Nimr was among 47 people beheaded or shot by firing squad across Saudi Arabia on Saturday – the largest number of individuals executed in a single day since 1980. All but four of the condemned were convicted as Al-Qaeda members, while Nimr and three other Shias were accused of inciting riots among Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority between 2010 and 2012, when Nimr was arrested.
Iran’s Supreme Leader also listed the bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and its army’s buttressing of the Bahraini regime, as additional transgressions by Riyadh.
Khamenei is not the first to draw comparisons between the militants of Islamic State, who are rampaging through nearby Syria and Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, since both espouse a very similar Wahhabi ideology, and consequently share comparable legal and criminal codes, despite being sworn enemies.
According to public sources, Saudi Arabia executed at least 157 people last year, the most in two decades, predominantly by beheading, the same technique favored by Islamic State.