The Saudi-Iranian competition for regional hegemony has been wrongly interpreted as a Sunni-Shia rivalry.
![Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud is greeted at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on December 8, 1997 [AP/Enric Marti]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AP_97120801911.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The Saudi-Iranian competition for regional hegemony has been wrongly interpreted as a Sunni-Shia rivalry.
Saudi royals and officials have been arrested in what appears to be an effort by MBS to consolidate power. But why now?