A Study On The Relationship Between Iran And Saudi Arabia During The Iran-Iraq War

Iran and Saudi Arabia are two important countries in the Islamic world, for any changes in the relations between the two countries will have a significant impact on the Gulf and the Middle East region. During the Iran-Iraq war, the relation between Iran and Saudi is different from that in the peaceful time which reflects in their peaceful cooperation and is also different from the relationship of being two warring sides of a war. Iran is the main side of the war and Saudi Arabia is the adversary of Iran. The countries that support Iraq are the leading countries of the Gulf region which is also deeply influenced by the war. The diplomatic relations between the two countries suffer from a variety of external factors because of their multiple identities. At the same time, the development of their relationship is made unpredictable.In the first chapter we introduce the bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia before the Iran-Iraq war which can be divided into two phases:(1) during the Pahlavi dynasty, their relations during this period are normal diplomatic relations. In spite of the existence of interest in their relationship, when the Gulf region is threatened by external forces which bring adverse effects on the two countries, they will strengthen the cooperation;(2) During the time when Khomeini came to power, Saudi Arabia announced that they are not hostile to the new regime of Iran by emphasizing their common Islamic factors at the beginning of the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran in1979. However, Saudi Arabia soon realized the impacts which the Islamic revolution in Iran brought on its regime.In the second chapter, we focus on the relations between the two countries during the Iran-Iraq War. Their relations in1980-1986can be divided into two phases:(1) In the early stage of the Iran-Iraq war in1980-1982, as Iran had a very tough attitude and forcibly exported the Islamic revolution to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, their relations became increasingly tense and therefore Saudi decided to support Iraq in the war.(2) In the middle stage of the war in1982-1986, with the progress of the war, Iran gradually took the initiative status in the war. So Saudi worried that they would lose the barrier to resist Iran and therefore have an intensified head-on collision as well as a worse relationship with Iran if Iraq failed in the war. The "pilgrimage event" on July31,1987in Mecca resulted in the stumbled relations between the two countries and the two countries broke off their diplomatic relations in1988.In the third chapter, we mainly study the effects on Iran, Saudi and the Middle East region brought by the worsening of the relations between Iran, Saudi and the Iran-Iraq war. In the fourth chapter, we analyze the factors which affect their relations in terms of the nationality and religion, diplomatic philosophy, ideology and national interest, the Gulf region and the United States.In this paper we draw two conclusions:1. among so many factors that affect the development of the bilateral relations, the radical foreign policy of the implementation of "exporting the Islamic revolution" as well as the idea of putting Islamic ideology above the national interest are the root causes of the changes in their relations during this period.2. On one hand, the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war deteriorated the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the deterioration of relations between the two countries deeply affected the process of the Iran-Iraq war and the situation in Middle East.