Saudi-Iran row could shatter Syrian peace efforts: Analysts

The deepening crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran could threaten fragile efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian war, which has claimed more than a quarter of a million lives, analysts say.
 
"The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia will definitely have a negative impact" on the peace process, said Samir Nashar, a member of the Syrian opposition-in-exile.
 
"The negotiations were already difficult, if not impossible, and this conflict is only going to lead to positions becoming more entrenched," he told AFP.
 
On opposite sides of the Sunni-Shiite faultline in Islam, Iran and Saudi Arabia are also key players in the Syrian conflict, respectively backing or opposing the regime in Damascus.
 
Tensions surged on Jan. 2 when Saudi Arabia executed a leading Shiite cleric and activist, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, prompting furious crowds in Iran to set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.
 
In response, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran on Jan. 3, giving Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.
 
This was followed on Jan. 4 by Bahrain and Sudan cutting ties with Tehran, while the United Arab Emirates downgraded its links with Iran, recalling its envoy.
 
The bustup is the result of years of seething hostility between the Persian and Arab rivals, who have fought for leadership of the region through proxy wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, where Riyadh is directly involved militarily in the fight against Shiite Huthi rebels.
 
Both countries are also deeply involved in the war in Syria, where Iran supports President Bashar al-Assad and has supplied "military advisers" to his regime.
 
The Saudis have called for Assad to go and are giving financial and...