Regional row shows US leadership waning
The long-simmering conflict between two major Middle East powers erupted on Sunday when Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran after Iranian protesters stormed its embassy in Teheran over Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric. Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shiite-ruled Iran have long been at loggerheads, supporting rival sides in the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts, but an open spat resulting in breakoff of ties still came as a surprise to many.
Viewed in a larger picture, the series of dramatic events further testify to a fact that the United States, a major player in the Middle East, is losing control over the region.
Sticking to a policy of interventionism over years in the region, the US failed to shoulder the responsibility to earnestly solve the underlying political, social and religious conflicts there, instead it chose to sweep all the problems under the rug.
