Riyadh tries 32 over 'spying for Tehran'

A group of 32 Shias has been put on trial in Saudi Arabia over charges of spying for Iran, media reported on Monday.

The defendants who appeared before the Saudi Special Criminal Court on Sunday, included 30 Saudis from the mainly Shia Qatif region of Saudi Arabia's eastern province, Press TV reported.

The Saudi Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution presented various charges at the court against the accused people, including the formation of what it said was a spy cell in collaboration with members of Iranian intelligence and passing on sensitive data to Tehrab.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran last month in response to angry demonstrations in front of its diplomatic missions in the two Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad.

Some people attacked the Saudi premises in the course of the protests, which were held in the wake of Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shia leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.