Role of Sectarianism in the Saudi-Iran Rivalry

Sectarianism: Catalyst of the Saudi-Iran Rivalry

Sectarianism:

Catalyst of the

Saudi‐Iran

Rivalry

Author: Waqas Sultan, Department of Government and Public Policy, National Defense University, Pakistan

Even with the immense diversity of cultures, languages, ethnicities and political

ideologies, sectarianism stands out as the defining dichotomy of the 1.2 billion Muslims

of the globe. The Shiite and Sunni division is almost as old as Islam itself. Shiites have

always been a minority and often an oppressed one. Sunnis on the other hand, have

always had numbers on their side. Islamic Sectarianism is the cause of disunity,

terrorism, hatred and in some cases outright civil war as in case of Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia is governed by a dynastic monarchy which adheres to the strictest type

of Sunni Ideology, known as Wahhabism. The riches earned from oil have been and

are being spent on the introduction, promotion, defense and dominance of Wahhabi‐

Sunni Islam across the Islamic World. The 1979 Iranian Revolution on the other

hand has given Shiites a country of their own, a first in the modern era. Iran

therefore became a sponsor of t h e Shiite cause across the globe. The Iran‐Iraq War,

Omani Civil Strife, the recent Yemeni conflict and the sponsoring of Shiite and Sunni

death squads in many Muslim countries, sponsored by Iran and Saudi Arabia

respectively has created and widened the gulf between these two countries and the

wider Islamic world.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are therefore on a collision course and considering the intensity

and speed of events, it is a matter of time for the Iran‐Saudi Proxy War to become an

outright military conflict between these two nations. The course their respective

Foreign Policies have taken is a reflection of the influence of sectarianism on their

Policy Makers. This divide trickles down to the population at large and the sentiments

on both sides are of utmost dislike and contempt.

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