Saudi Arabia–Iran Rivalry

Saudi Arabia and Iran represent the two poles of a decades-long struggle for regional hegemony that intersects religious identity (Sunni vs. Shia Islam), political ideology (monarchy vs. theocratic republic), and energy economics (competing oil exporters). Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran began exporting its revolutionary ideology and supporting Shia communities and armed groups across the Arab world — in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Yemen (Houthis), Iraq (Popular Mobilization Forces), and among Palestinians (Hamas). Saudi Arabia countered by funding Sunni states, madrasas, and political movements across the region. The rivalry escalated after the 2003 Iraq War (which brought Shia parties to power in Baghdad) and the 2011 Arab Spring. Relations were severed in 2016 after the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. A brief Chinese-brokered rapprochement occurred in 2023, but was overtaken by the 2026 conflict.