The escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran has threatened the world of another conflict in the region that is already torn and shattered with conflicts and war. It started when Saudi executed 47 people including a Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr-al-Nimr. The execution of the Sheikh was condemned by all the powers including the Saudi allies of United States and UK. It was feared that it might result in tensions in the region and deepen the divide between the Sunni and Shia population of Middle East. As feared, there were protests in a number of countries against this execution and in Tehran, protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy. After the incident, Saudi Arabian government announced to cut its ties with Iran. According to Iranian government, the attack on Saudi embassy was a natural reaction from the enraged Shia community of Iran. After a few days, a unity of six Arab nations came up with a statement, declaring the attack on Saudi embassy in Tehran as ‘an act of terror.’ With this, a number of countries supporting Saudi announced to cut their relations with Iran.

The escalating tensions between the two countries have given birth to fears of a direct military conflict between the two nations. According to military analysts, both the countries are not in condition to afford any such conflict at present. On one side, Saudi Arabia has the support and weapons provided by its allies. However, Iran has an edge on Saudi Arabia with its comparatively huge population and support of Russia, as has been seen in the conflict of Syria. Iran also has military edge on Saudi in the open seas, as its navy is more established and bigger in size. However, both the countries are already involved in different conflicts. If Saudi Arabia is leading the aerial attack on rebel groups of Yemen, Iran is also busy in supporting the regime of Assad in Syria. On the other hand, Saudis are also facing the internal pressure due to the falling income from its oil exports and its decision to impose taxes on its public. During the Arab spring, Saudi government averted the danger of any internal uprising by giving more and more benefits to public, to win their support for the royal family.

Political analysts criticize both Saudi and Iran the way they mishandled the situation and allowed the situation to get worse. Before Saudis executed the Shia cleric, many countries had realized that it might increase tensions in the region and so they tried to stop Saudi Arabia from this. However, the Saudi government did not consider these problems or they intentionally ignored the warnings and executed the Sheikh. Although the Saudis have not gained much from this execution, but they have certainly jeopardized the stability and peace of the region by this small act. On the other hand, some critics also criticize the way Iranian government handled the post-execution situation of Sheikh, especially in Tehran. The government failed to stop protestors from storming into the Saudi embassy in Tehran. The public speeches and statements of government officials and influential clerics of the country added fuel to the emotions of people, resulting in clashes between protestors and police in Tehran.

In the same way, the blind following of six Arab nations to cut their ties with Iran is considered by many critics as heedless and lacking wisdom. The decision was taken only to please Saudi Arabia and get the support of their Sunni masses. It was ignored that any such step might result in a military conflict in the region. As a response to this, Iranian government accused of Saudi-led coalition to target and bomb its embassy in Sana of Yemen. Although Saudi has denied these accusations and a general in command has ordered investigations of these accusations, the accusations have undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of conflict between the two countries.

This conflict between the two countries is not new. Both the countries cut off their relations in 1980 as well that lasted for four years and had negative impacts on the people and governments of both the countries. However, both the countries represent the two biggest blocks of population in the Muslim world and a conflict or misunderstanding between them runs deep into the masses of Sunni and Shia population. The leaders of both the countries need to understand that their small disagreement might hurt the unity and peaceful co-existence of people belonging to Sunni and Shia sects. The involvement of both the countries in the conflicts of Iraq and Syria has already widened this rift and any such heedless act might have catastrophic impacts on the region.

This conflict would also have negative impact on the war to tackle the menace of ISIS in the Middle East. If Saudi has announced the formation of a 34-nation alliance against terrorism and is a supporter of bombing of ISIS in Syria, Iran is also a key player as it has sent its physical and military support to Bashar-Al-Assad. The conflict between the two important regional powers might slow down the process to battle the evil forces of ISIS in the region. It might also affect negatively the Syrian talks that were supposed to start in January and that is going to play a major role in peaceful resolution of Syrian conflict.

The conflict might also undermine the recently achieved nuclear deal between Iran and the West. This nuclear deal is considered a milestone in the peaceful resolution of this long-standing problem but any such conflict between these two regional powers might change the route of the practical implementation of this deal in near future.

It is also the time to ignore these small differences and work on wider scale to reach and help those hundreds and thousands of people who are under the siege of warring factions in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and they are in desperate need of food and other humanitarian assistance.

Until now, the West has not taken any side, as both the sides are important, in one way or the other. If Saudi is the major and traditional ally of West, Iran is also playing its key role in the Syrian conflict.

This conflict shows again the sad reality that leadership in majority of Islamic countries lack the vision, wisdom and understanding for a calm and rational resolution of conflicts. The leadership on both the sides tried to address their shortsighted aims and ignored the long-run impacts on people and the region as a whole. The problem would remain the same until we do not establish a strong and healthy tradition of democracy in all the Islamic countries.