Prominent Iran-backed Iraqis called on the government in Baghdad on Saturday to sever ties with Saudi Arabia over its execution of prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, al-Sumaria TV said.

"It's a big crime that has opened the gates of hell," said Qassim al-Araji, according to the channel's website. Al-Araji, a leader of the Badr Organization, a Shi'ite paramilitary groups with a political wing, also called on Baghdad to cut diplomatic ties "immediately."

Another Iran-backed militia group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to fuel Sunni-Shi'ite strife, according to the TV's website. "What the use of having a Saudi embassy in Iraq," it asked.