PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY ¨C The breach in diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a dangerous watershed in an already unstable, war-torn region. The trigger was the execution by Saudi Arabia of Nimr al-Nimr, a firebrand Shiite sheikh who had called for the end of the country¡¯s monarchy. But the rupture has its roots in a strategic rivalry that stretches across the Middle East.
The tensions between the two countries go back many decades, but they became especially acute after Iran¡¯s Islamic Revolution in 1979. The revolution¡¯s leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, did not hide his contempt for the Saudi royal family; he quickly positioned Iran as a champion of ¡°the oppressed¡± against ¡°the forces of arrogance¡± ¡ª the United States and its local allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
But while the rivalry has sectarian and ideological components, it is, above all, a pragmatic dispute over regional interests. Because Iran views the political order in the Arab world as serving its enemies¡¯ interests, it has continuously sought to upend it, promoting terrorist groups and deploying proxies in order to establish and expand its influence in the region. The non-state actors Iran has supported include rioting pilgrims in Mecca, suicide bombers in Lebanon and Hezbollah militants, who have launched attacks on Israel and, more recently, battled Saudi-backed rebel groups in Syria.
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