Saudi Arabia has suspended ties with Iran, accusing it of not interfering to prevent an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran over the weekend.

Tehran's diplomats on Sunday have been asked to leave the kingdom, after Ryadh's own ambassador and his staff were evacuated from the Islamic Republic.

A letter of protest has also been handed to the Iranian ambassador over "hostile remarks" which followed the execution of 47 people in the Saudi kingdom.

A Shia religious leader, Nimr al-Nimr,who spent over a decade studying theology in Iran, was among those killed.

Among the others, many were linked to attacks in Saudi Arabia between 2003 and 2006. Al-Nimr for his part was convicted of sedition, disobedience and bearing arms in relation to his involvement in the anti-government protests that broke in the east of Saudi Arabia in 2011.

Al Jazeera quotes Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir as saying Iran had ignored "three times" request for help on behalf of Saudi diplomats when they asked for help during the attack on the embassy late on Saturday.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani later ordered the arrest of those involved in the raid.