What was worse for Saudi Arabia was the strengthening of the Shi'ites in Iraq, seen as Iran's proxy. This drew the Iranian threat much larger for the Kingdom, forcing them to weaken Iranian influence in Iraq through covertly supporting Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004 - later Islamic State of Iraq 2006, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 2013, Islamic State 2014.) This of course undermined attempts at reconciliation between the Iraqi and Saudi governments. Iraq has, as a result, always chosen Iran over Saudi Arabia as their closer ally.