The unrelenting rivals: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, 1979--1997

The Organization of the Islamic Conference was founded in 1969 as an intergovernmental organization designed to represent the needs of the world's Muslim nations. Since 1979, this organization has been a battleground between two of its most powerful states, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, instead of an organization of Muslim unity. The nature of that rivalry has roots in ideological differences as well as different economic circumstances. In particular, the period from the Iranian Revolution to the holding of the first Organization of the Islamic Conference in Tehran (1979--1997) marks a period of heightened tensions between the two states which ultimately served to the benefit of Iran.