The Islamic Republic of Iran has just reopened its office at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). For several years, Iran and Saudi Arabia have mutually anathematized each other, thus dividing the Middle East into two camps, Shiite and Sunni. But this has not always been the case, notwithstading the historical roots of the antagonism between the two Muslim denominations.

Thus, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Iranian Pasdarans (and members of the Lebanese Hezbollah) fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab Legion of Osama Bin Laden, financed by Saudi Arabia. At that time, all Islamist fighters were deployed under US/NATO command.

Iran and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations in 2016, following the execution – ordered by the Saudi monarchy – of Sheikh Nimer el-Nimer, a peaceful Shiite leader who led the fight against the discrimination targeting the Shiite minority in the kingdom. ‎

The OIC currently has 57 member states and is the only faith-based intergovernmental organization in the world. ‎