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ByAliAkbarDareini and Jon Gambrell TheAssociatedPress TEHRAN,IRAN IraqonWednes- day offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran after ten- sions soared following the king- dom's execution of a Shiite cleric and attacks on two Saudi diplo- matic posts in the Islamic Re- public. The standoff has seen Saudi Arabia sever diplomatic ties with its longtime regional rival and could hinder efforts to re- solve the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, where Riyadh and Teh- ran back opposite sides, as well as affect the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibra- him al-Jaafari proposed medi- ation during a news conference in Tehran, but also referred to the execution of Sheikh Nimr al- Nimr as a "crime." Saudi Ara- bia and its allies say al-Nimr was found guilty of terrorism charges, and that condemna- tions of the execution amount to meddling in Riyadh's inter- nal affairs. Iraq has undertaken a deli- cate balancing act amid the lat- est regional turmoil. The Shiite- led government in Baghdad re- lies on Iranian help to battle the extremist Islamic State group, but is also trying to repair ties to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which last week sent an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time in 25 years. Speaking alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, al-Jaafari said Iraq's place in the heart of the Middle East allows it to play a role in trying to "alleviate ten- sions." "This responsibility has been given to us and we have been active from the early moments to lessen tensions to prevent a disaster from happening that could affect the entire region," he said. Back in Iraq, however, thou- sands of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen marched in Bagh- dad and across the south to pro- test the execution of al-Nimr. Qais al-Khazali, the head of the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq mi- litia, gave a speech in the south- ern city of Basra in which he called on Baghdad to cut dip- lomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, expel the newly arrived ambas- sador and boycott Saudi goods. Russia also has offered itself as a potential mediator, though it's unclear whether Saudi or Iranian officials have responded to the proposal. Zarif, meanwhile, blamed Saudi Arabia for exacerbating the situation. "We have treated these ac- tions with magnanimity and nobleness but unfortunately our neighbor, Saudi Arabia, did not respond to it properly," he said. "The process of provoking ten- sion must be stopped." The diplomatic standoff be- tween Iran and Saudi Arabia be- ganSaturday,whenthe kingdom executed al-Nimr and 46 others convictedofterrorcharges —the largest mass execution it has car- ried out since 1980. Iranian protesters responded by attacking the Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran and its con- sulate in Mashhad. Late Sun- day, Saudi Arabia announced it was severing relations with Iran because of the assaults. On Wednesday, Iranian diplo- mats in Saudi Arabia returned to Tehran, according to state media. Since Saudi Arabia severed ties to Iran, a host of its allies have cut or reduced their ties as well. Among those is Bah- rain, which said Wednesday it had broken up a Shiite militant group backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Rev- olutionary Guard. Bahrain's Interior Ministry accused the suspects of receiv- ing $20,000 from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and of having links to those behind a July 2015 bombing that killed two police officers Bahrain, home to the U.S. Na- vy's 5th Fleet, has a Sunni-ruled monarchy but a Shiite majority. It has faced low-level turmoil since 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests by Shiites seeking more political rights. It has long ac- cused Iran of fueling the unrest and sponsoring attacks in the country, something the Islamic Republic has denied. Also on Wednesday, Qatar recalled its ambassador from Iran to protest the attacks on the Saudi diplomatic missions, according to a brief report car- ried by the official Qatar News Agency. Oman broke its silence on the Mideast turmoil and called the Saudi diplomatic post attacks "unacceptable," while leaving its ties to Iran untouched. The sultanate has been a long-time mediator between Iran and the rest of the world and helped jumpstart negotiations for the nuclear deal with global powers reached last year. In eastern Saudi Arabia, where al-Nimr agitated for greater political rights for Shi- ites in the Sunni-ruled king- dom, three days of mourn- ing over his death were to end Wednesday night. Mohammed al-Nimr, the sheikh's brother, said people planned to hold a funeral Thursday for the cleric, though Saudi authorities al- ready buried his corpses in an undisclosed cemetery. Balancing act TENSIONS THANASSISSTAVRAKIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Saudi Arabia executed last Saturday, Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46others convicted of terror charges, the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980. "This responsibility has been given to us and we have been active from the early moments to lessen tensions to prevent a disaster from happening that could affect the entire region." — Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraqi Foreign Minister NEW YORK U.S. stocks tum- bled to two-month lows Wednesday as fears about China's economy slow- ing down led to more wide- spread selling. The price of oil plunged to its lowest level since 2008 on the prospect that global demand could fall further. For the second time in three days, markets slumped on concerns that the second- largest economy in the world is stumbling. A monthly sur- vey of China's service indus- tries slipped to a 17-month low. That helped knock the price of oil lower since China is a major consumer of en- ergy. Global markets were also rattled after North Korea said it had conducted its first successful test of a hydrogen bomb. The Dow Jones indus- trial average dropped 252.15 points, or 1.5 percent, to 16,906.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 26.45 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,990.26. The Nasdaq com- posite gave up 55.67 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,835.76. — The Associated Press FINANCIAL MARKETS Stockshit2-monthlows as China worries flare NEW YORK Chipotle re- ported a sales plunge of 30 percent for December af- ter a series of food scares at its restaurants and disclosed that a federal criminal inves- tigation tied to the sickening of customers has begun. The company said in a regulatory filing that it was asked to produce a broad range of documents tied to a norovirus outbreak this sum- mer at its restaurant in Simi Valley, California, but de- clined to provide further de- tails. It said the investigation does not involve a more re- cent E. coli outbreak tied to its restaurants that sickened people in nine states, or a separate norovirus outbreak in Boston. The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. At- torney's Office for the Cen- tral District of California in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investi- gations, according to a fil- ing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. — The Associated Press BUSINESS Criminal investigation opens at Chipotle WASHINGTON House Re- publicans prepared to cast their 62nd vote Wednesday repealing President Barack Obama's health care law, with a difference: It's the first time their bill will end up on the president's desk. Republicans boasted of a signal achievement, saying they were forcing Obama to face up to the failures of his law while illustrating stark political choices in an elec- tion year. "We are confronting the president with the hard, hon- est truth," said Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. "Obam- acare doesn't work." Democrats called it point- less political theater and pandering that will have the same ultimate outcome as all the previous repeal votes, since Obama will veto the legislation. "A bill that is going to the White House that will get the fastest veto we've ever seen happen in this country is a monumental vote?" said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. "This is just a waste of every- one's time." — The Associated Press CONGRESS GOP sending health law repeal to Obama WASHINGTON The Obama administration has a vi- sion for Syrian leader Bashar Assad's departure. Even if it works, the president won't be around to see the plan through. An internal U.S. timeline for a best-case Syrian polit- ical transition, obtained by The Associated Press, sets a date of March 2017 for Assad to "relinquish" his position as president and for his "in- ner circle" to depart. That is two months after Presi- dent Barack Obama leaves of- fice and more than five years after Obama first called for Assad to leave. Syria, according to the would-be American strategy, would hold votes for a new president and parliament in August 2017. The State Department said Wednesday the timeline was prepared late last year as a guide for Secretary of State John Kerry. Spokesman John Kirby de- scribed the document as a "staff-level think piece" that is "preliminary and pre-deci- sional." — The Associated Press WASHINGTON U.S. sees Assad staying in Syria until March Nation+World News feed Epiphanycelebration: Le eris Chrisomallos from Greece holds up a wooden cross a er he retrieved it during an Epiphany ceremony in Izmir, Turkey, on Wednesday. The traditional Epiphany ceremony is held when Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I or an Orthodox priest throws a simple wooden cross into the water and swimmers race to be the first to retrieve it. TURKEY EMRE TAZEGUL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Iraqoffersto mediate between Saudi Arabia, Iran PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thank you! By Kim Chandler and Phillip Lucas The Associated Press MONTGOMERY, ALA. Al- abama Chief Justice Roy Moore on Wednesday said state probate judges remain under a court order to re- fuse marriage licenses to gay couples even though a US. Supreme Court decision effectively legalized same- sex marriage more than six months ago. The outspoken chief jus- tice, who previously tried to block gay marriage from coming to the Deep South state, issued an administra- tive order saying the Ala- bama Supreme Court never lifted a March directive to probate judges to refuse li- censes to gay couples. "Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders ... that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any mar- riage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Mar- riage Amendment or the Al- abama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect," Moore wrote. But the chief justice stopped short of directly ordering judges to refuse the licenses. He wrote in his order that he was not "at liberty to provide any guidance to Alabama pro- bate judges on the effect of (the Supreme Court ruling) on the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court." At least three Alabama counties suspended all mar- riage license operations — not issuing licenses to any- one— as a result of his order. The state Supreme Court issued its directive to re- fuse licenses to gay couples at the request of a conser- vative group after a federal judge ruled in January 2015 that the state's gay-marriage ban was illegal. 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