SAUDI Arabia’s Sunni allies have rallied behind the kingdom in severing or downgrading diplomatic relations with Iran, deepening a sectarian split across the Middle East. Both Bahrain and Sudan had cut all ties with Iran while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Iranians had downgraded its relations with Tehran. Saudi Arabia on Sunday broke off relations after a mob stormed its embassy in Tehran.

Saudi’s severance of of ties with Iran had also been extended to cutting air links between the countries, ending commercial relations and barring its citizens from traveling to Iran, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters on Monday. Iranian pilgrims will still be welcome to visit Mecca and Medina, Jubeir said in an interview, adding that Iran must behave like “a normal country” instead of “a revolution” and respect international norms before ties could be restored.

Shi’ite power Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using the attack on the embassy as an “excuse” to sever ties and further increase sectarian tensions, after Shi’ites across the world denounced Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Reuters reported that a man was shot dead in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province late on Sunday, and two Sunni mosques in Iraq’s Shi’ite-majority Hilla province were bombed in the fallout from the dispute between the Middle East’s top Sunni and Shi’ite powers.

Oil prices rose more than two percent, overcoming economic weakness in Asia, as the two big petroleum exporters traded insults and tensions spilled into other crude producers such as Iraq. Stock markets across the Gulf dropped sharply, led by Qatar which fell more than 2.5 percent, with geopolitical jitters outweighing any benefit from stronger oil. Crude importer China declared itself “highly concerned” with the developments, in a rare foray into Middle East diplomacy.

The United States and Germany had called for restraint, while Russia had offered to mediate an end to the dispute. The row threatened to derail efforts to end Syria’s five-year-old civil war, where Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab powers supported rebel groups against Iran-backed President Bashar al-Assad.

In neighboring Lebanon, newspapers said the spat had clouded the hopes of filling the vacant presidency that had been raised last month after Iran and Saudi Arabia both voiced support for a power-sharing deal. After a furious response in Shi’ite communities worldwide to the Sunni kingdom’s execution of Shi’ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran was creating “terrorist cells” among the kingdom’s Shi’ite minority.

Saudi Arabia executed Nimr and three other Shi’ites on terrorism charges on Saturday, alongside dozens of Sunni jihadists. Shi’ite Iran hailed him as a “martyr” and warned Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family of “divine revenge”. Shi’ite groups united in condemnation of Saudi Arabia while Sunni powers rallied behind the kingdom, hardening a sectarian split that had torn apart communities across the Middle East and nourished the jihadist ideology of Islamic State.