Iran vs Saudi Arabia: The Middle East cold war explained

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been strained, the two nations locked in a Middle East cold war for over 30 years.

 

Saudi Arabia is a Sunni Islamic kingdom with close ties to the West. Iran officially became a Shia Islamic republic in the 1979 anti-Western revolution.

 

Both nations have vied to assert their religious and political ideologies in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has backed Sunni rebel forces in the Syria conflict whilst Iran has supported Houthi rebels in Yemen.

 

Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of only representing US interests, whilst Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of trying to exert its influence across the Persian Gulf and create its own nuclear arsenal.

 

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