The Saudis and their Sunni royal family also fear that the Iranians
will stir up the large Shia minority in their oil-rich Dhahran province
in the east. In the past few years the Saudi and Egyptian governments
have occasionally let their media descend into anti-Shia bigotry and
old-fashioned Persia-bashing.
But their officials have generally stayed silent, resisting the
temptation to tweak the noses of the ruling clergy in Tehran, since
they rail against interference from outside when it comes to their own
politics. But they have been quite happy to let the state media
ridicule Mr Ahmadinejad.
