ABSTRACT
Contrasting views on regional security in Iran and Saudi Arabia derive in part from the diametrically different lessons the two states learned between 1979 and 1991. These contrasting views of regional security, and indeed of the political definition of the region itself, have complicated Iran-Saudi relations over a number of the issues which have involved other Gulf states during the past few years. It was in the light of such fears that the Saudi government organised bilateral security agreements with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states during the 1980s. The first incident blocking movement towards rapprochement after the new chapter in Iran-GCC relations in 1991 was over the island of Abu Musa. This island and two others, such as the greater and lesser Tunbs, had been the object of conflicting claims by Iran and the Emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah, constituent members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since its formation in 1971.
