Broadcast 4 March on Iranian state satellite TV (IRINN)

This Iranian TV editorial is typical of the TV statements that are sent to the world from Iran every time one of its officials makes a trip to another country. There have been similar pieces in the last few weeks about Iran's relations with The Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, following trips by President Ahmadinejad and Chief Justice Shahrudi.

This feature is an expertly crafted piece of high propaganda, remarkable for its brevity. It is only 2 minutes in length, while other such pieces generally last 4 to 6 minutes. So much is left out of it that it must be obvious even to IRINN's most gullible viewers.

This editorial makes no mention of anything that was discussed between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but anyone paying attention will realize that there are certain things that must have come up between these two countries, who have a long history of sensitive bilateral tensions.

Here are some of the most important issues:

Syria, an Iranian client state that is a key Iranian route of access to Lebanon (and the Hezbollah), is threatened by the Saudi belief that its government is responsible for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Saudis support the formation of an international tribunal to investigate the murder, but this is something both Syria and Iran oppose.

There have been many reports of a Saudi shadow alliance with Israel to counter growing Iranian-Shia influence in the Middle East. It is unlikely that either side mentioned this in the Riyadh talks, but everyone present probably felt it hanging in the air.

The Saudis are allegedly using OPEC oil quotas deliberately in ways that lower oil prices to Iran's disadvantage. Because of Saudi Arabia's strong diplomatic ties with the US, some believe this is being done deliberately at the behest of the Americans.

Saudi support for Sunnis in Iraq is at odds with Iranian support for Shias there. Iraq could conceivably become the site of a proxy war between these two countries, especially if the US were to leave Iraq, which the Iranians want badly.

The above tension has been reflected in other reports stating that Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed during Ahmadinejad's visit not to do anything to exacerbate sectarian violence in the region. This probably means that both sides promised not to take sides in the current Iraqi civil conflicts.

A likely point of common ground is that both sides apparently support the agreement reached at the Mecca meeting between the warring Palestinian factions, but the fact that the Saudis hosted the meeting may not have been to Iran's liking, since it has cultivated Hamas and Hezbollah and supported them financially in multiple visits their leaders have made to Iran, where they have met with the highest-ranking Iranians.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are rivals for leadership of the Muslim world, and have been since the 1979 revolution in Iran, when Khomeini loudly proclaimed that there is no place for royalty in Islam. They also disagree over how the Mecca pilgrimage rites should be conducted.

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Announcer: The trip to Saudi Arabia by Mr. Ahmadinejad, the president of the republic of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attracted a great deal of attention in political and media circles.

This trip was very important in terms of bilateral relations and regional developments, especially since the trip by the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Saudi Arabia took place on the eve of the international meeting in Baghdad, to be attended by Iraq's neighbors, which added to its importance and sensitivity.

Political experts see Mr. Ahmadinejad's trip to Riyadh as an important step for exchanging views and consultation between the officials of these two important Islamic nations for the purpose of helping to resolve the crisis in Iraq and helping the nations of Palestine and Lebanon.

Another important point in studying this trip is that in recent months, efforts have been made by suspicious groups affiliated with foreigners to sow discord and create religious strife in the region. This has gone far enough that the affiliated groups have tried to convert the Lebanon and Iraq crises into ethnic and religious clashes and to create a context for foreign abuses in the region.

In this area there are even people actively trying to impose constructive relations among the important nations in the region such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, and they have taken mischievous measures.

In view of all of these circumstances the trip to Riyadh by Mr. Ahmadinejad, Iran's president of the republic, was an important step towards improving bilateral relations between these two Muslim nations and part of a joint effort to resolve the problems of Islam.