And behind it is a centuriesold conflict in islam between shias and sunnis that has grown more acute recently, drawing in all. Both mbs and jubeir have said iran is to blame for most of the conflicts in the region, and. In iran, protestors burn part of the saudi embassy in tehran and storm the. Dec 20, 2017 the conflict between iran and saudi arabia is fueling some of the regions most intractable conflicts. The move prompts protests or condemnation from shiites in iran, iraq, bahrain, turkey, pakistan, india, lebanon, and yemen. The rupture has its roots in a strategic rivalry that stretches across the middle east, says bernard haykel, middle east expert at princeton university. The security dilemma in saudiiranian relations mohamed. Pakistans approach to navigating the saudiiranian split. The formation of a sunni coalition against houthis in yemen could spark sectarian violence in pakistan and afghanistan. A brief breakdown of the current saudi vs iran conflict. Pdf conflicts between iran and the gulf arab states. Alhamdani, baron and almadhaji 2015 argue that even if some level of agreement was reached among local actors, if saudi arabia and iran wanted the conflict to continue, then it would.
Iran v saudi arabia conflict has entered unpredictable phase the ongoing conflict between saudi arabia and iran will become even more unpredictable in the coming. Iran and iraq, once at loggerheads and embroiled in conflict in the 1980s, are now closely aligned. For these reasons, the middle east has been a major center of world affairs. Only 6 percent of trade is conducted within the region, guaranteeing perpetual conflict as history teaches that peace relies upon economic interdependency. The islamic republic of iran and the kingdom of saudi arabia are two rival powerhouses in the middle east. How saudi arabia and irans rivalry fueled conflicts in. Saudi arabia, competitive relationship, islam, the middle east. The outcome is a complex pattern of conflict which the author of this article argues is indeed different from a proxy war. Saudi arabia is the birthplace of islam, and to its holy city of mecca where billion faithful turn five times a day for their prayers. Saudiiranian tensions economic effects and political consequences iranian oil workers on kharg island in the persian gulf, february 2016.
Saudi arabia and the regionalization of yemens conflict. It was concluded that iran and saudi arabia have ambitions for a larger share of the new middle east and from the viewpoint of religious perspective, are instrumental in expanding their influence. Saudi arabia charged iran with an act of war for a missile fired at the saudi capital by the houthis in yemen. Shiite pilgrims clash with saudi police during the hajj, triggering a stampede and clashes that kill at least four hundred including more than two hundred iranians.
Saudi arabia and to varying extents other gulf arab states. Iran has a large population and a long history of nationhood, while saudi arabia holds significant oil reserves and is custodian of islams holiest sites before the 1979 iranian revolution, relations between iran and saudi arabia proceeded without major incident. Saudi arabia, competitive relationship, islam, the middle east, national identity how to cite this paper. Israel and iran have come to view each other as direct regional rivals over the past decade, with iran viewing israel as being bent on undermining iran s revolutionary system and israel viewing iran as posing grave strategic and ideological challenges to the jewish state. If left out of the postconflict transition, it could work very hard to wreak havoc and undermine any postassad.
The saudiiranian rivalry and the future of middle east. Pdf relations between iran and saudi arabia have never been at a desirable level. Managing the saudiiran rivalry council on foreign relations. Hence, regional will to deescalate the conflict will be a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition for a political settlement. Evaluating iran saudi strategic competition in middle east 143 ndu journal 2018 the current split between iran and saudi arabia is traced back to iranian revolution of 1979, which terminated the romanticism between the west and of prowestern leaders of iran. The kingdom of saudi arabia, occupies the majority of the arabian peninsula. Iran seeks to expand its power in the gulf, which is a key area of competition between the two states. May 19, 2017 the saudi airstrike campaign in yemen which began in 2015 has been supported by the u.
Iran and saudi arabias great rivalry explained bbc news. The latest 72hour ceasefire starting 20 october was not renewed when it ended on. The saudis who have not been able to attain their ominous goals in the long war and military aggression put themselves in more bottlenecks using naive and improper psychological. In the general perspective of the saudi iranian conflict, iran claims to represent the worlds shiites and saudi arabia claims to represent its sunnis, but the power struggle progresses over the. The yemen file is a biweekly analysis and assessment of the yemen conflict and the salafijihadi movement in yemen. The iransaudi arabia proxy conflict, sometimes also referred to as the iransaudi arabia cold war, middle east cold war or middle east conflict, is the ongoing struggle for influence in the middle east and surrounding regions between the islamic republic of iran and the kingdom of saudi arabia. This article contemplates the ominous zerosum game between saudi arabia and iran through the prism of their respective strategic perspectives. However, yemen is unique given its strategic location for trade and its vulnerable border shared with saudi arabia.
The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the. During the cold war, iran and saudi arabia formed the twin pillars of us foreign. The conflict between saudi arabia and iran, while historical and religious in origin, has evolved into a geopolitical competition. Saudi arabia, a majority sunni muslim country and iran, a majority shia muslim country, have been in major geopolitical conflict which has intensified since the iranian revolution in 2011 and iran s support for syria during the syrian civil war. By the year 2011 saudi arabia was an iranian target as a result of the kingdoms. Some states have been left open to their intervention due to a power vacuum, and yemen is no exception. This is the case as iran does hold considerable influence on assad and his political and military entourage. It is a fact that saudi iran have influence on crises in yemen, lebanon, syria, iraq, bahrain, qatar, and elsewhere in the region. Civil war and regional intervention congressional research service 1 historical background and overview for over a decade, the republic of yemen government royg has been torn apart by multiple armed conflicts to which several internal militant groups and foreign nations are parties. Armed proxy conflicts in iraq, syria, yemen and lebanon and political uprisings in egypt and bahrain are widely known to have iranian and saudi political and material support. Saudi arabia and iran have been in conflict since the iran revolution in 1979.
Saudi arabia has in recent years veered away from its traditionally conservative and behindthescenes foreign policy approach to a far more assertive and openly hostile to iran strategy. One workshop participant explained that the principal sources of. Consequently, diplomatic ties were reestablished and iranian pilgrims were allowed to return to the hajj. Saudi arabia, a majority sunni muslim country and iran, a majority shia muslim country, have been in major geopolitical conflict which has intensified since the iranian revolution in 2011 and irans support for syria during the syrian civil war. Iran and saudi arabia, on the two sides of the sunnishiite fault line, are trying to gain influence in reshaping the middle east. Saudi arabia after two decades of guerrilla war in. In general, regional crises cannot be solved without cooperation and interaction between iran and saudi arabia. The houthi insurgency is a yemeni zaydi shialed rebel group. As a result, the tensions reach further than the oil or economic sphere, and become geographical. But now the whole debate has shifted towards the relationship between iran and saudi arabia, instead of solving the crisis inside. This tension continues to play out today in a proxy war, which is defined as a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved. The iransaudi arabia conflict and its impact on the.
Whats behind the feud between saudi arabia and iran. Iran did not interfere in the conflict, it was only mildly critical of the us presence and it acquiesced to the saudi s preferences in ope 11. Pdf what is really behind the saudiiranian cold war. Our ideology rejects monarchy and alliance with the nonmuslim governmentsnations that are oppressive or impose their will, policies or culture on usmuslims. Iran attacks a saudi oil tanker and saudi arabia shoots down an iranian jet. The gulf states and iran used to resolve their conflicts peacefully without the help of other political powers, as they enjoyed a strong and. Why is there conflict between saudi arabia and iran. It has many levels but at its root it is our ideology contra their realpolitik. Jan 21, 2016 saudi arabia and iran blame each other for yemens conflict, further embittering a regional rivalry between the two nations being played out from syria to iraq and lebanon to bahrain. The execution of saudi s shia cleric, shaikh nimr al. Iran has been the kingdoms main obsession since the fall of the shah, who was replaced by the.
The competition between iran and saudi arabia for regional influence is exacerbating a number of existing disputes in the region, where the two powers are backing different sides including yemen. Trump, the saudi iranian rivalry, and the geopolitics of. In the iransaudi arabia conflict, a clash of civilizations the cold war between the two regional powers is likely to heat up, reviving an ageold sectarian war between sunni and shiite islam in. Irans 1979 revolution, the fall of saddam hussein in iraq and the. Regional rivals enjoyed amicable ties in the 1990s, but analysts say current geopolitics point to more confrontation. The enmity between iran and saudi arabia is a persistent feature of middle eastern geopolitics. Moreover, since iran s covert nuclear activities were exposed in 2002, the saudis have feared iran s longterm. Kharg island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends iranian territorial sea claims into the persian gulf oil fields. Saudiiranian tensions economic effects and political. If left out of the post conflict transition, it could work very hard to wreak havoc and undermine any postassad government. The qatar crisis project on middle east political science.
Religion is the source of legitimacy for both the ruling family in saudi arabia and the ayatollahs regime in iran. Saudi arabia and the uae are emerging as the two spearheads around which u. The conflict between iran and saudi arabia i s routinely explained away as a sectarian rift, but this paper argues that the rise in sectarian tensions is a consequence, rather than the cause, of the. Although pakistan historically has found saudi arabias beneficence valuable, and at times has been a client to its patronfor example, in the 1969 conflict with yementhe prospect of direct proliferation activity between pakistan and saudi arabia mostly has been overstated. The saudi iran spat clearly demonstrates that internecine struggles between fellow muslimsthe clashes within a civilization and not between civilizationsare the dominant type of conflicts in the middle east. Saudi aramco attack drone components linked to iran and. The conflict between saudi arabia and iran, while historical and.
A view from iran on heightened conflict with saudi arabia. The breach in diplomatic relations between iran and saudi arabia is a dangerous watershed in an already unstable, wartorn region. In the background of these three middle east conflicts is a geopolitical rivalry between shiamajority iran and its sunnimajority neighbor, saudi arabia. Its a rivalry thats helped prolong and deepen the strife, as both nations have infused weapons, money and proxy forces into conflicts that have exacerbated sectarian tensions in the region. Saudi arabias first king, abdelaziz also known as ibn saud finally conquers all of what is today. Experts state that while the rivalry between saudi arabia and iran date back to the.
The security dilemma in saudiiranian relations mohamed bin. In the iransaudi arabia conflict, a clash of civilizations. Study of factors affecting saudiiranian relations and conflicts and. The iran saudi arabia proxy conflict, sometimes also referred to as the iran saudi arabia cold war, middle east cold war or middle east conflict, is the ongoing struggle for influence in the middle east and surrounding regions between the islamic republic of iran and the kingdom of saudi arabia. Jun 30, 2017 the conflict between iran and saudi arabia i s routinely explained away as a sectarian rift, but this paper argues that the rise in sectarian tensions is a consequence, rather than the cause, of the. Saudi arabia, iran and the changing geopolitics of the. For about 20 years since the end of the cold war, the regional power dynamics of the middle east were relatively stable, and united states was the uncontested and dominant external power. Identity of irans political system is referred to iranianislamic identity, while saudi arabia has arabicislamic identity. Trump, saudi arabia warn iran against middle east conflict. Iran has a large population and a long history of nationhood, while saudi arabia holds significant oil reserves and is custodian of islams holiest sites.
Four proxy conflicts explained why iraq, syria, yemen and lebanon have become four key areas of the saudiiranian proxy war. Why saudi arabia and iran are bitter rivals bbc news. Saudi arabia executes sheikh nimr al nimr, a prominent shiite leader who supported antigovernment demonstrations, along with 46 others for alleged terrorrelated offenses. Schwanitz revolutions are bittersweet moments in history that change a society mostly by bloodshed. President donald trump issued a new threat to tehran on sunday, tweeting that a conflict would be the official end of iran, as saudi arabia warned it stood ready to respond with all. Strategic interests in the middle east and implications. Conflict between saudi arabia and iran is not really about religion, but is rather it is driven by a cold war struggle between iran and saudi arabia. Irans relationship with the houthis in yemen is often exaggerated.
Afghanistan stuck between iran and saudi arabia politics. A report by conflict armament research car has linked the drones that targeted saudi oilfields in september and houthi drones in yemen to iranian drones recovered in iraq and afghanistan. The growing rivalry between saudi arabia and iranand by extension, their allies and. The two major powers in the region, saudi arabia and iran, fan the flames of regional conflict. The organization of islamic cooperation oicwhich represents the entirety of the muslim worldhas traditionally observed a strict policy of neutrality, preferring to resort to closeddoor diplomacy regarding disagreements among its member states. Iran and saudi arabia unlikely to pivot back to diplomacy. They are ratcheting up the war between them in their secondary arenas of conflict, namely syria, lebanon, and yemen. Saudi arabia has not officially given notice of this ban, but iran has blamed part of its difficulty selling oil on this message being spread by ship brokers and traders. In relation to the iran saudi arabia conflict, however, the oic openly backed riyadh, which deepened intersectarian rifts within the oic. Helia ighani associate director, center for preventive action. Saudi arabia was expected to mediate in yemens internal conflict as an older brother and restore peace to the muslim state, rather than launching military strikes and pounding bombs on muslim civilians in the north of yemen, whilst saudi foreign minister saud al faisal counteraccused. For its part, saudi arabia, if it seeks to establish a friendly regime in syria, also needs iran.
Relationships among regional powers have also changed. Saudi arabia, make the region the primary target of iran s strategic. Iran and saudi arabias struggle for power in the middle east and north africa has led to many states becoming involved in their proxy wars. Feb 05, 2016 in the recent events that tend to escalate the confrontation over recent years between saudi arabia and iran the islamic denominations are misused as a tool to divide the muslim world in two blocs. As for the crisis in syria, iran can encourage the government in syria to pave the way for more participation of sunni political elites, who are against armed and violent operations, in the political structure in syria. Iran tensions have heightened significantly, and evolved into conflict after u. Saudiiran dispute jeopardizes yemen peace talks reuters. Policy congressional research service 2 on may 3, 2019, the administration ended two of the seven waivers under the iran freedom and counterproliferation act ifca, p. In relation to the iransaudi arabia conflict, however, the oic openly backed riyadh, which deepened intersectarian rifts within the oic. This paper argues that primary drivers of tension and conflict in yemen are local, but the.
However, this conflict is not about religion, but about the powerpolitical predominance in the middle east instead. Iran s then president ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. Saudi arabia, iran and the changing geopolitics of the middle east on 11th may 2015 news broke that king salman of saudi arabia would not be attending a much lauded summit with us president barak obama and other leaders of the gulf coc. Iran and saudi arabia are on opposing sides of a more than 1,000year old argument at the heart of islam between sunnis and shia. Until the late 1960s iran and saudi arabia had a similar conflict over the two small islands of. Pompeo, hold views on iran and the muslim brotherhood that are virtually indistinguishable from those in riyadh and abu dhabi. In the landscape next to iran and saudi arabias various other conflicts, yemen could be seen as another proxy war between the two rivals. As the word indicates, there is something like a rotation involved. Iranian and saudi cultural and religious identities. Both iran and saudi arabia have found sectarian partners to be the most effective tools for projecting power across the region. Iran and saudi arabia are not directly fighting but they are engaged in a variety of proxy wars conflicts where they support rival sides and militias around the region. Escalation in the conflict between iran and saudi arabia. After the death of the prophet muhammad, his followers split.
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