The Oil Game; Saudi Arabia’s Last Card against Iran

-There are four reasons behind the growing rift in Iran-Saudi relations, the most important of which is Iran’s increasing power and influence in the region and the improvement of its relations with the world.

-Following the coming to power of Mr. Rohani and the initiatives of his government particularly his diplomatic team, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been promoted on the daily basis.

-Iran played its winning card in the region and changed the developments in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen to its own benefit which neutralized all the planning and finances spent by Saudi Arabia in these countries.

-Furthermore, Iran’s relations with the world especially the European Union have improved due to its proper diplomacy. In addition, Iran’s contact channel with the US became public and the nuclear agreement which promoted Iran’s international status became a matter of concern for Saudi Arabia.

-Relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel have grown during the past few months and even Turki Faisal, the Saudi Prince, praised the US and Israeli officials in an article published in Haaretz and said that he intends to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington in the near future.

-The Saudis have even expressed their willingness to sell oil to Israel. The shadow of the closeness of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been cast on Tehran-Riyadh relations. The impact of this close relation could today be seen in Saudi Arabia’s last card against Iran in the oil price.

-There have also been serious developments in the ruling structure of Saudi Arabia, the most significant of which was the dismissal of Bandar-bin-Sultan from his position as head of the Saudi National Security Council.

-Another reason in the growing rift in Iran-Saudi relations is the failure of Saudi Arabia’s policies in removing Bashar Assad from power.

-Today, Russia has proposed a plan to create peace between Syria’s opposition and its government with Egypt and al-Sisi’s mediation and the Islamic Republic of Iran has approved this plan. This initiative has raised hopes in the establishment of peace between both parties, thus the Saudis would bear another defeat in the region.

-Therefore, the Saudi have used the oil price to fight against Iran and Russia and force them to back down from their regional plans.

-It is certain that Saudi Arabia is using its last options and playing with the price of oil is its last card against Iran and Russia. With the failure of this policy, Saudi Arabia would then have to make serious and fundamental changes in its regional policies.