In Iran, Saudi Arabias longtime rival for influence in the    Middle East, there is little expectation that King Abdullahs    death will alter the deep enmity that has helped fuel    hostilities and proxy battles throughout the region, including    in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.  
    In the near future, there will not be any letup between the    two adversaries, said Nader Karimi Juni, a political analyst    in Tehran. Iran and Saudi Arabia will never be friends. Each    country has a hostile ideology toward the other.  
    President Hassan Rouhani and others offered their official    condolences, but not much more was said publicly. Abdullah died    Friday at age 90.  
    Press TV, the state-run English language news service,    reflected the official view when it noted that, under    Abdullahs rule, Saudi Arabia became an incubator for groups    promoting extremism, including Al Qaeda offshoots such as    Islamic State, which regard Iran as a bitter enemy.  
    The ill will between Saudi Arabia and Iran predates Irans 1979    Islamic Revolution. But many in Iran recall bitterly how Saudi    Arabia backed former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein during the    1980-88 Iran-Iraq war that left hundreds of thousands dead.  
    The geopolitical rivalry between the two regional giants has    often become entwined with sectarian concerns centering on    Islams two major branches. Officials in both Shiite Iran and    Sunni Saudi Arabia view themselves as global leaders of Islam.  
    Many Saudis do not view Shiites as true Muslims, and Iranian    clerics routinely condemn Saudi Arabias severe Wahhabi    interpretation of Islam, which is also embraced by many Sunni    militants who target Shiites as apostates.  
    In recent years, Iran has more than held its own in its    regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia, despite Riyadhs oil riches    and its close ties to the United States. That has clearly    frustrated Saudi officials and their allies in Washington.    Saudi Arabia, like Israel, also views with alarm the prospect    of U.S.-Iranian political rapprochement, should world powers    finally reach an accord on Tehrans nuclear program.  
    The collapse this week of the Saudi-backed government in Yemen     and the rise there of the Houthi minority, regarded by Riyadh    as an Iranian proxy  was a blow to the late kings regional    strategy. Saudi Arabia now faces the disquieting prospect of an    Iranian ally governing along its southern border. But that was    just the latest regional setback for the monarchy.  
    The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which toppled Hussein, a    Sunni, led to an upsurge in sectarian tension throughout the    region. The U.S. invasion also had the unintended consequence    of flipping Iraq toward Iran. Iraqs Shiite majority gained    power in Baghdad. Riyadh fumed and funneled support to Iraqs    disgruntled Sunni minority.  
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Saudi king's death unlikely to change rivalry with Iran