With ongoing international dependence on the Gulf region for oil supplies, information about the roots of the bitter rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has become increasingly important and compelling, not only for the specialist, but for everyone with an interest in Middle Eastern studies. This book examines the attitude of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the early days of Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979-80 until the Second Gulf War - and its aftermath - in the 1990s. Iran's attempts to present itself as the role model for Muslim societies challenged Saudi Arabia's historic claim to guardianship of the Muslim faith. Tension heightened during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-8) when Saudi Arabia provided vital material support to Iraq in an effort to undermine Iran's Islamic-universalist pretensions. With the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and the election of the more liberal Ali Rafsanjani to Iran's presidency, and with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, whereby it proved to be a greater threat to Saudi Arabia than Iran ever was, the prospect of detente between the former adversaries began to emerge.
But this was soon overshadowed by the appearance of new areas of rivalry brought about by the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact. Despite their difficult history, the author argues that intermittent periods of peaceful coexistence show that the apparent discord between these two states is neither inherent nor insurmountable, but rather is due to specific circumstances which this book describes and explains with clarity and in detail.