Saudi Arabia and Iran

Before World War II, Saudi Arabia and Iran had limited exchanges, except over the regulation of the annual pilgrimage to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Hijaz region of western Arabia. The pilgrimage encouraged small-scale trade of Persian goods, mainly carpets, and the settlement of a small Persian community in Jeddah. Meanwhile, boundary disputes, which included several joint oilfields, remained dormant when the challenge of internal state security was a more urgent concern.¹

Iran is a center of Shi’i theology; since overthrowing the Pahlavi monarchy, it has also aimed to export its Islamic revolution to other countries in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has custodianship of Islam’s two holiest cities, Makkah and Madinah, and thus unrivaled power and prestige in the Islamic world along with an equal determination to preserve it; Iran challenges this dominant Saudi position. But religion is not a key determinant of the important political and strategic circumstances informing Saudi-Iranian ties, despite the obstacles it creates. It is but one determining variable that often acquires influence within the context of advancing political goals.

In December 1925, months after Persia placed a three-year ban on the haj because of tribal war in Hijaz, Reza Khan established the Pahlavi dynasty and became Reza Shah. Abd al-Aziz sent a message congratulating him, and vowed to protect Persian pilgrims.¹ As Persia did not recognize Abd al-Aziz’s newly established Kingdom of Najd and Hijaz, Reza Shah was advised not to send a formal reply. He decided to maintain communications with the new ruler of Hijaz, under pressure from Shi’i clerics who wished to resume the haj despite their opposition to the Wahhabi takeover of Makkah and Madinah. A delegation was sent to Hijaz to thank Abd al-Aziz, and to stress that Persia wished to maintain close ties with the government of Hijaz.²

In November 1964, Faisal assumed full power in Saudi Arabia. His rule, made in part possible through the alignment with the clerical establishment, was marked by a commitment to Islam as a unifying force in Saudi domestic and foreign policies. When the shah had earlier dispatched his foreign minister Abbas Aram to convey to Faisal his hope for improved Saudi-Iranian relations, Faisal urged support for Saudi initiatives across the Muslim world to fight communism. The shah was convinced that his ambitious modernization programs would make Iran the most stable country in the Middle East, and he insisted only on promoting Islamic values that were compatible with modern times. Faisal was weary of the shah’s assertions about Iran’s regional standing. But in December 1965, he stopped in Iran on the first leg of a tour of Islamic states he was making after leading two conferences on Islamic unity in Makkah in May 1962 and April 1965. The initiatives led to the establishment of the Muslim World League (rabitat al-alam al-islami) and the Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC). Iran actively participated in the proceedings of the Makkah conferences, became a founding member of the league and helped establish the OIC, which was inaugurated by Faisal and the shah in Morocco in 1969.¹

From its inception in the spring of 1979 following a national referendum, Iran’s Islamic republic was the antithesis to the Saudi monarchy. Khomeini called for the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy, and argued that Muslims should unite as one nation (ummah) to administer the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah. The ayatollah gained a small following with Saudi Shi‘is who looked up to Iran as a center of the Shi‘i world, and inspired disgruntled Saudis who admired Iran’s ability to overthrow a powerful king.