Riyadh-Tehran: Religion, oil and the global game

This article examines the complex rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which transcends economic issues such as oil. It emphasizes that the true power of the conflict lies in both countries' ability to shape the collective imagination and organize symbols, making the cultural arena—religious, artistic, and media—as crucial as geopolitics. Religion is instrumentalized here as a tool of identity and propaganda, both by Wahhabism and the doctrine of wilayat al-faqih. The text also examines the cultural and social fronts of the conflict, including the role of media, art, and women, as well as global factors such as the influence of the US, China, and Russia on the dynamics of this crucial clash for the Middle East and the world.