Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, January 6, 2016
http://jcpa.org/article/iranian-saudi-relations-before-the-abyss/
How deep, for how long, and with what ramifications for the Middle East will Saudi-Iranian tensions go?
John Kerry’s effort to bring about some talks to end the Syrian civil war seems remote. The Obama administration’s overture to Iran with the nuclear deal last August has angered the Saudi’s sufficiently for them to lead their own coalition of Sunni states against Iranian hegemony and radical Jihadist Islam. On CNBC, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir said, “Iran should back off, stop being aggressive, stop interfering, stop supporting terrorism.” Israeli analysts commonly believe that these tensions will not dissipate quickly, but no one is estimating a shooting war between Riyadh and Tehran. For certain, the Saudis remain terribly perturbed at the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran that will release billions to the government in Tehran. Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall’s piece provides a deep background on Saudi-Iranian tensions. (kws)
“An ancient cold war turns hot–Iranian Saudi Relations before the Abyss …”