INTERVIEW — MICHAEL RUBIN – Resident Scholar at American Enterprise Institute, former Pentagon official and author of “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes”

• WHAT MESSAGE US IS SENDING SAUDIS, IRAN: The White House appeals for restraint by both nations after mobs attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
• Saudi Arabia severs ties with Iran. On January 2, 2016 Saudi Arabia executed Shi’ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr for inciting anti-government protests among the Shi’ite population in predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia. The execution sparked a heated reaction in Iran, and amid escalating tensions between the two countries, Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday after the regime allowed protesters to storm the Saudi embassy in Tehran. With Iran and Saudi Arabia already waging proxy wars in Syria and Yemen, what will this mean for US interests and the future of an already volatile region?
• Former DoD official Michael Rubin: “Make no mistake, Saudi Arabia should be condemned for the murder of Sheikh Nimr, but that is no excuse for the violation of the Saudi embassy. Those who set fire to the embassy should be imprisoned for arson and responsible for the damage they caused, as should the security forces that encouraged the assault if not participated in it. The simple fact is that until Iran is compelled to respect foreign embassies, then no responsible country should maintain an embassy on Iranian soil. Only when Tehran realizes that rogue behavior wins no advantage and brings only isolation, might it begin to act like a civilized government. Conversely, to take no international collective action against the repeated and systematic violation of embassies by Iran or any other state is a guarantee that other regimes and groups will begin to consider it open season on embassies. At stake is not simply the embassy of one odious regime in the capital of another, but the understanding of the sanctity of diplomacy and diplomats dating back two hundred years.”