On Saturday, protestors in the Iranian capital of Tehran stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy, raiding it and setting it on fire.
They were protesting Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an extremist Shiite cleric who called for the overthrow of the Sunni Saudi monarchy. In response, Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran. Since then, three other Sunni nations have followed suit: Bahrain, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Charles Sennott, head of The GroundTruth Project, joined Boston Public Radio to explain how tension between the two nations could destabilize the region.
He sees the move, in part, as a power play designed to undermine Iran's position in the region after its historic nuclear deal with the United States.
"What [Saudi Arabia] is really doing with this execution of this Shi'a cleric, it's trying to back Iran off the plate, saying 'we can mess up the entire deal with Iran if we so choose,'" he said. "It's like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum and actually creating a situation that is quite volatile in the region."
Tense relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia—two of the most powerful countries in the region—could lower the possibility of progress on issues like defeating ISIS and peacefully ending the war in Syria, Sennott said.
"If we can't have a Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ia republic of Iran working together in some fashion, even a stone cold fashion, if we could just get them on somewhat the same page...that's how you get a real set of peace talks going in Syria. That's how you really attack ISIS," Sennott said.
"So many pieces of the puzzle in the Middle East right now are interlocking," he continued.
To hear more from Charles Sennott, tune in to Boston Public Radio above.
