The confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia

“The confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia”
Annotation. Relations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) are one of the important factors tors influencing the situation in the Middle East regional subsystem of international relations. aggravated in recent years contradictions between two regional powers and modality their foreign policies have a direct impact on the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen; internal political situation in Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, the Comoros and other countries; Palestinian-Israeliskoe settlement; the Kurdish question; oil prices on the international local market; the formation of regional military-political blocs; internal situation in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Keywords: Iranian foreign policy, foreign policy Saudi Arabia, Iranian-Saudi relations, Iran, Saudi Arabia wiya.
In recent years, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry in The Middle East is taking on ever more acute forms. Since the beginning "Arab spring" arena of confrontation between the two countries are Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen. In these regions, the war between between the Islamic Republic and the KSA is conducted by the forces of their allies. For Riyadh, the most significant theaters of war Viy are Yemen and Syria. The importance of Yemen is determined by the fact that that this country has a common extended border with KSA (proprovinces of Asir, Najran and Jizan), while if on the official territorial disputes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen were settled in 2000, then the Houthis speech is not recognized. The situation in Yemen is critical of great importance for ensuring the national security of the KSA.
The victory over the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria could play an extremely important role for Riyadh in terms of providing their geopolitical interests in the Middle East and under- disruption of the Tehran-Baghdad-Damascus-Beirut axis. It is with the fall Assad's Kingdom tied the weakening of Iran in the region. More in 2011 the late King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdullah del Aziz noted in an interview with a senior official from US State Department that "nothing will weaken Iran like the fall of the current government in Syria”2 . Saving Bashar Assad in power will be a big blow to the image and positions of Er Riyadh in the region.
The crisis in relations between Tehran and Riyadh deepened fought after the death of 416 Iranian pilgrims during the Hajj 2015 and especially after the execution of the Shia Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia in January 2016. The sentence of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimru led to the pogrom of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and rupture of diplomatic relations between the two countries.Observers note that the leaders of both states periodically cross "red lines" in their statements. Riyadh threatens to openly support non-systemic opposition, deploying terrorist activity pro from Tehran, namely the Mujahiddin el-Khalq organization.
At the same time, Iran, through the Lebanese Hezbollah, began supplying ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in the depths of the KSA, Yemeni Houthis and their allies represented by supporters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Iranian-Saudi confrontation has reached a dangerous point. This is confirmed by the mutual accusations exchanged occurred between the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the mufti of the KSA. Ver- the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, recalling last year's Bel pilgrims during the Hajj, noted that the Saudi Arabian the Levi family cannot cope with the organization of the Hajj and called to the organization of international Islamic control over Palom nichestvo. In response to this, the Mufti of the KSA, Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh announced that "Iranians are not musulmans" . Both charges are very serious for Muslim countries.
The fundamental contradictions between countries are there is competition for a role in the regional hierarchy, various approaches to the issue of collective security, the role and place of some countries like the US and Israel in the Middle East. Iran strwants to be involved in regional processes, because in this case, its expansion will continue. KSA con is centered on the isolation of IRI. In this situation, Riyadh was compelled to choose an active foreign policy, the implementation which requires significant costs and generally carries a significant significant risks for Saudi Arabia. Since 2003, after the occupation of Iraq by the American coalition, there is a change in the regional balance in the Middle and Middle East. For both the KSA and the IRI, strengthening the positions of their rival in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, van, Palestine, Comoros, means the deterioration of vein positions. In promoting their influence Riyadh and Tehran use asymmetric tools. Conducting external her policies of Saudi Arabia and Iran in various countries the Middle East is facilitated by the weakness of many states of the gyona, the internal rivalry of various ethnic and religious groups interested in attracting external “custodians” new."