On a positive note, Turki did point to the long friendship and cooperation between Arabs and Persians, praising cultural achievements and religious commonalities and arguing that current tensions were an exception.<\/p>\n
But he also attacked what he called the \u201cKhomeini cancer\u201d \u2013 strong words for such an exquisitely polite man to use about the architect of the 1979 revolution, who is still officially revered in\u00a0Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Relations between Riyadh and Tehran have seen\u00a0ups and downs<\/a>\u00a0since that watershed year. Nowadays they are opposing sides of the many conflicts of the region \u2013 from Syria and Lebanon to Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. They also diverge on the ever sensitive issue of Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n The Saudis have plenty of money and a long-standing though changing alliance with the US, but nothing to match Iran\u2019s ally, Hezbollah, which plays a key role fighting in support of Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n Strategic and economic rivalry between these neighbours \u2013 feeding through into sharp differences over oil exports \u2013 is intertwined with an ugly sectarian discourse that plumbs the depths of Sunni-Shia hostility and intolerance.<\/p>\n Relations\u00a0hit a new low<\/a>\u00a0in January when the Saudis executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a renowned Shia cleric in the kingdom\u2019s eastern province.<\/p>\n Iranian mobs stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad, triggering a rupture in diplomatic relations and a propaganda war that has continued ever since.<\/p>\n Iran often accuses the Saudis of supporting Isis \u2013 or Daesh as it is universally known. And it was predictably quick to lash out at Turki\u2019s comments: \u201cThe Saudis are resorting to well-known terrorists \u2026 as they have also done in Iraq, Yemen and Syria,\u201d said a foreign ministry official.<\/p>\n \u201cThey use terrorism<\/a>\u2026.to further their aims against Islamic countries.\u201d The Revolutionary Guard echoed the complaints.Tehran\u2019s position<\/a>\u00a0is that the NCRI, also known as the People\u2019s Mujahideen, is a terrorist organisation<\/a>. The EU, US and other western countries no longer take that view. Until 2003 the group was based in Iraq, and was supported and used by Saddam Hussein as means of pressuring Iran.<\/p>\n It played a key role in exposing Iran\u2019s undeclared nuclear activities. It enjoys no visible support inside Iran and is often described as \u201ccult-like\u201d.<\/p>\n Turki attracted attention on another controversial subject recently when heshared a platform<\/a>\u00a0with a retired Israeli general and argued for a two-state solution and Palestinian independence \u2013 while sharing concerns about Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities in the wake of last year\u2019s international agreement.<\/p>\n Iran condemns Israel as an \u201cillegitimate\u201d regime and supports the Islamists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which advocate resistance to occupation and are at odds with the PLO.<\/p>\n Whatever Turki\u2019s official standing he still runs the prestigious\u00a0King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies<\/a>\u00a0in Riyadh. Last Sunday\u2019s speech was closely covered by Saudi-owned media \u2013 ensuring that his words reached a large audience.<\/p>\n![\"Iran\"](\"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/iRAN-300x172.jpg\")
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