Yet dialogue from Saudi Arabia to the United States suggests that the Gulf kingdom wants to avoid further escalation. And why would Saudi Arabia help the U.S. attack one of its neighbors in the first place? Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is the dominant Sunni Muslim nation and uses that to heavily influence the region. “The relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia has always been very turbulent actually,” Rob says. It also helps explain why Saudi Arabia aligns with the U.S. and other Gulf nations to undermine Iran.