In his May 15, 2024 class Jiang Xueqin explains to his Chinese high school students the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia:
At the beginning of 1979 Saudi Arabia and Iran were friendly with each other. Both were America-aligned oil-exporting monarchies. Iran’s Islamic Revolution was a political earthquake that promised to topple the entire Middle East political order.
Ever since Saudi Arabia and Iran have been bitter religious, economic, and geo-political rivals. After America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq Iran seemed dominant. In 2015 Riyadh was shaken to its core when Obama reached a nuclear deal with Tehran.
Then Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Muhammad bin Salman won over the Trump White House. Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit, and scuttled Obama’s nuclear deal. In January 2020 Trump ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, which brought Iran and America to the brink of war.
If Trump wins in November, tensions in the Middle East can only promise to escalate.
