Factors Generating Tension in Iranian-Saudi Relations under King Salman

Iranian-Saudi relations are experiencing the most complicated conditions in recent years and decades as they seem to move in the direction of further deterioration. There are several factors that have caused tension in bilateral relations. This article seeks to explore the factors that generate tension in relations between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran following King Salman’s rise to power. The hypothesis indicates that there are three categories of factors that influence Iranian-Saudi relations including the domestic (Saudi Arabia), regional and transregional parameters. The findings of the research demonstrate that the domestic parameters include Riyadh’s new leaders’ attitude towards Iran, Saudi authorities’ efforts at projecting domestic problems and the type of circulation of elites in the country, feeling regional losses, efforts made at reinforcing the Wahhabi-Sunni discourse
vis-à-vis the Shia discourse as well as sense of insecurity leading to forging coalitions against Iran. The other parameters involve the new Western attitude towards the region, decline in Western reliance upon the Saudi oil and the nuclear deal between Iran and the West, which generate tension in Iranian-Saudi relations.