In 2011, a Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council coalition had to neutralize an Iran-sponsored Shia insurgency in Bahrain. This year in Yemen (a predominantly Sunni country), a Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Zaydi Shia Houthi rebels, whom Iran armed in order to take over the country and gain a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.
作为逊尼派影响力最大的国家，沙特阿拉伯知道，它必须竭尽全力阻止伊朗。2011年，沙特领导的海湾合作委员会联盟必须遏制伊朗所支持的巴林什叶派叛乱。同一年，在也门（逊尼派占多数的国家），沙特领导的联军与栽德派什叶派胡塞叛军作战。伊朗为了控制也门、获得在阿拉伯半岛的立足点而为胡塞叛军提供武装。