The Gulf island state Bahrain, Saudi Arabia’s closest Gulf ally, said on Monday that Iranian diplomats had 48 hours to leave Manama, and its own diplomats would be leaving Tehran.

Shortly afterwards, Sudan announced that it was expelling the Iranian ambassador to Khartoum and that all ties had been severed. Sudan has been distancing itself gradually from Tehran in recent months.

The UAE is also downgrading its diplomatic representation to Iran, replacing its ambassador with a chargé d’affaires, al-Hadath TV reported.