article_snippet.sent: (CNN)Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia have always been thorny, but rarely has the state of affairs been as venomous as the state of affairs is today.
article_snippet.sent: In its most recent incarnation, the Iranian-Saudi conflict by proxy has reached Yemen in a spiral that both sides portray as climatic.
article_snippet.sent: For Riyadh and Riyadh regional allies, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen -- "Operation Decisive Storm" -- is the moment Yemen finally woke up to repel the expansion of Shia-Iranian influence.
article_snippet.sent: And yet both sides have good reasons to want to stop the Yemeni crisis from spiraling out of control and evolving into an unwinnable war.
article_snippet.sent: From Lebanon and Afghanistan to Pakistan and the Gaza Strip, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry and conflict through proxy has been deep and costly.
article_snippet.sent: But if the questions of Syria and Iraq Iraq prevented a pause in hostilities, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen since late March has all but raised the stakes to unprecedentedly dangerous levels.
article_snippet.sent: Unlike in Syria and in Iraq, the Saudi military is now directly battling the Saudi military out with Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
article_snippet.sent: While Riyadh no doubt exaggerates Tehran's role in the Yemen crisis, Yemen fingerprints are nonetheless evident.
article_snippet.sent: We believe that Iran sees opportunities with Houthis to expand Iran influence in Yemen and threaten Saudi and Gulf Arab interests.
article_snippet.sent: The Iranians find the charges biased and point to the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen as a much bigger case of meddling in a neighbor's affairs.
article_snippet.sent: Seeking a political solution is Iran's stated aim for the Yemeni crisis, but the prospects of such an effort succeeding are slim.
article_snippet.sent: As Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif put the Iranian proposal, "Iran and Saudi Arabia need to talk, but we cannot talk to determine the future of Yemen.
article_snippet.sent: But a solution to the Yemeni crisis will not come from the U.N. the U.N. can provide a cover for Riyadh's military intervention, but the U.N. cannot secure the U.N. a military win.
article_snippet.sent: It can look for or even mediate a political solution that will invariably include the same Houthis that Riyadh is attacking today.
article_snippet.sent: It is beyond Tehran's ability to tame the Yemeni crisis.
article_snippet.sent: As tempting as it might be for Tehran to see the Saudis bleed in Yemen, the danger of this conflict further fuelling sectarian tensions in the Middle East will undermine broader regional Iranian interests.
highlights_snippet.sent: Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are at an unprecedented level .
  