An Analysis of Iran-Saudi Relations in Iraq within the Theory of Moves

Political-Security and geopolitical changes in Iraq after 2003 have resulted in the promotion of Islamic Republic of Iran’s status in the Middle East political-security sphere including in Iraq; sphere that has been traditionally influenced by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Utilizing such opportunities, Iran has also sought to actualize its capacities, capabilities, values and influence in the Middle East. This is viewed as detrimental to Saudi Arabia. Hence it has searched for solutions to preclude Iran’s expanded political and spiritual influence in the region, contemplating on measures to offset Iran’s regional power. Iran-Saudi confrontation has reached such level that demonstrates a zerosum game in their bilateral ties in Iraq. For this reason, Saudi policy in the Middle East is based on containing Iran’s influence. In this paper, the authors have studied foreign policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia, using the game theory and the theory of moves in order to understand their rivalry in the Middle East.