January 04, 2016 - Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday and gave all Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the kingdom, as escalating tensions over the execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia on Saturday marked a new low in relations between the two Middle Eastern powers. The announcement by Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, during a televised news conference followed harsh criticism by Iranian leaders of the Saudis’ execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and protesters' storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are historic foes. Saudi, being predominantly Sunni, and Iran, being the center of Shiite Islam, consider themselves as the champions of their own respective religions. While they have had no direct armed confrontations, they have engaged in numerous diplomatic squabbles. Diplomatic tensions deepened when Saudi openly gave its support to the rebels fighting the Assad regime in Syria, a regime long considered Iran’s closest ally.
Iran has been undeterred by the economic and military isolation under US-led sanctions from becoming militarily independent, spending years developing ingenious weapons systems and raising an army almost three times the size of Saudi Arabia’s military. Iran's superficial military advantages are mitigated somewhat by Saudi's technological superiority.
Escalation of military tensions between the two countries could further undermine security throughout the region and spook global oil markets just as Iran is set to boost its oil production.
Sources: Global Firepower, 2015; JODI Oil Dataset, April 2017; IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO), April 2017