Regional instability has been fuelled by rivalry between Shia Moslem Iran and the conservative Sunni Moslem kingdom of Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
. Riyadh is among the main sponsors of the insurgency against Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
, who in turn is backed by Iran and Leb's Shia Hezbollah movement.
In addition, a Saudi-led Arab coalition has intervened in Yemen's war, carrying out air strikes on the Iranian-allied Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
militia group and its allies to try to restore the exiled government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"Saudi Arabia is working to confront Iran's trouble-making activities in the region," Jubeir told a news conference in Amman where he was meeting senior Jordanian officials.
"We are determined that Iran should not have a negative intervention in the region or in Arab countries."
Saudi actions had helped reduce the interference of Tehran and its regional clout in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and other countries, he said.
"The work we are doing to confront Iran's influence has achieved successes in several countries and we see the presence of Iran has shrunk in some areas in Africa and Yemen," Jubeir said, without elaborating.
He said Saudi Arabia sought good relations with Iran but most of the recent "aggressive actions" seen in the region had emanated from Tehran, urging the Iranians to respect "the principle of non-intervention" in others' affairs.
The Islamic Theocratic
Republichas denied such accusations. Cut off from Yemen and its allies there by the Saudi-led intervention, Iran has intensified a media offensive against Saudi Arabia, accusing it of inflicting catastrophic suffering in Yemen while presenting itself as a blameless peacemaker.
Jubeir also called for Iraq's Shia-led government to accelerate political reforms in order to give Sunni Moslems more say in running the country and end the "hegemony" of Iran there.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab allies are deeply concerned about what they see as Iran's regional expansionism highlighted by its backing for Assad, Hezbollah, Iraq's Shia militias and the Houthis, Yemen's strongest warring faction.