Years of turbulent Iran-Saudi relations

Iran has called on the Muslim world to punish the Saudi government for its handling of the hajj pilgrimage, from which Iranians have been excluded.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the "cursed, evil" Saudi ruling family did not deserve to manage Islam's holiest sites, after a stampede in September 2015 killed around 2,300 foreign pilgrims, including hundreds of Iranians.

Relations between the regional rivals have often been fraught since the Islamic revolution toppled the Shah of Iran in 1979.

Here is a look at some of their main differences:

- 1987: Clashes in Mecca -

Security forces in Mecca crack down on an illegal protest by Iranian pilgrims during the war between Iran and Saudi-backed Iraq. According to an official toll, 402 people are killed, including 275 Iranians.

The Saudi embassy in Tehran is sacked and Riyadh sets quotas for the annual hajj that provokes a three-year boycott by Iranians.

In April 1988, Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia breaks off diplomatic relations with Shiite Iran. They are restored in 1991.

- 1997: Smoothing over differences -

The election of reformist Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in May 1997 leads to improved relations with Saudi Arabia. He makes a historic visit there in May 1999 and seeks better relations with Arab neighbours in general.

In 2001, the two countries agree to cooperate against drug and people trafficking, terrorism and money laundering.

- 2003: Shiites come to power in Iraq -

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 sparks fresh tension by removing the ruling Sunni Ba'ath party in Baghdad and allowing majority Shiites to take over.

Saudi Arabia is also worried about increasing Iranian influence in Lebanon, where Tehran oversaw the creation of the Hezbollah Shiite militia in 1982.

- 2011: Riyadh sends troops to Bahrain -

In March 2011 as Arab Spring demonstrations sweep the Middle East, Riyadh sends Saudi soldiers to neighbouring Bahrain where protests by the Shiite majority have broken out.

Riyadh accuses Tehran of stoking tension in the Sunni-ruled island state.

In October, the United States accuses Iran of plotting to assassinate Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir, a key advisor to King Abdullah. Tehran claims the US is trying to fuel a new crisis.

- 2012/2015: Syria and Yemen -

Riyadh and Tehran square off again in 2012 amid the crisis in Syria. Iran backs President Bashar al-Assad and provides him with military forces and funds to battle Sunni rebels. Hezbollah becomes a crucial ally of Assad.

Saudi Arabia backs Syrian rebels, most of whom are Sunnis, but also joins a US-led coalition fighting the Sunni extremist group Islamic State.

Saudi foreign policy becomes more assertive in January 2015 when the new King Salman names his son Mohammed as defence minister.

In March 2015, Riyadh forms a Sunni Arab coalition of 34 nations to intervene in Yemen, where Tehran is supporting Shiite Huthi rebels. 

Iran's July 2015 nuclear deal with the West causes more Saudi concern. Differences between the two countries over crude oil production levels contribute to a sharp drop in prices.

- 2016: New crisis -

On January 2, Saudi Arabia executes Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was a driving force behind 2011 protests in the country's Eastern Province.

That infuriates Iran, which had already accused Saudi officials of incompetence during the 2015 hajj.

Riyadh breaks off diplomatic relations with Tehran on January 3.

Tensions rise further ahead of this year's hajj, at which there will be no Iranians for the first time in almost 30 years.

Source: AFP