A Saudi Arabia court sentenced at least 15 people to death on Tuesday for spying for Iran.
A total of 32 people were put on trial in February for treason out of which at least 30 Saudi people were from Shia Muslim minority, one was an Iranian national and another an Afghan national.
The accused were on trial for setting up a spy ring in collaboration with Iranian intelligence and delivering sensitive information about the military zones. It is believed that all the defendants tried at the Specialised Criminal Court in the Saudi capital in Riyadh were detained in 2013.
According to reports, 30 of the defendants were given prison sentences and two were found not guilty, al-Arabiya reported. Reports also stated that many of the people detained in the case were well-known figures of the Shia community and were not involved in politics. However, media reports said that all the people detained in the case were from the Saudi military.
Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in January after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters who were angered by the execution of prominent Shia clerics in Saudi Arabia, particularly Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi is a Sunni-ruled state, while Iran is a Shia-led state and the difference between both the nations has escalated over the time.
Although Saudi leaders said that Nimr had committed terrorism offences in the country for which he was executed, the Iranian leaders believed that he was sentenced to death for speaking against the Sunni monarchy.
Saudi Arabia has blocked Iranians from travelling for the annual Hajj pilgrimage following the discrepancies between the two nations. The decision from the Saudi government came after fallout of talks between the two countries regarding safety and logistical issues in May.
