---
title: "The Middle East’s sectarian divide on views of Saudi Arabia, Iran"
description: "The tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran are often characterized as sectarian, and public attitudes toward the two countries in five Middle Eastern nations surveyed bear this out."
date: "2016-01-07"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Poushter"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Global Attitudes Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jacob-poushter/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/01/07/the-middle-easts-sectarian-divide-on-views-of-saudi-arabia-iran/"
categories:
  - "Global Image of Countries"
  - "Islam"
  - "Muslims Around the World"
  - "War & International Conflict"
---

# The Middle East’s sectarian divide on views of Saudi Arabia, Iran

[![Wide variation in favorability of Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/01/FT_16.01.06_saudiArabia_iran.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/01/07/the-middle-easts-sectarian-divide-on-views-of-saudi-arabia-iran/ft_16-01-06_saudiarabia_iran/)

The [recent execution](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/saudi-announces-execution-47-terrorists-160102072458873.html) of Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr, along with dozens of other prisoners, by the Saudi Arabian government has sparked a furor in the Middle East. The storming of the Saudi Embassy amid protests in Iran, a predominantly Shia Muslim nation with long-standing animosity toward predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia, has led to the [cutting of diplomatic ties](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/04/middleeast/saudi-arabia-iran-severing-ties-whats-next/) between the two powers. Saudi allies in the region, such as Bahrain, have followed suit.

The tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran are often characterized as sectarian – that is, Iran and its Shia allies versus Saudi Arabia and its Sunni brethren. And this characterization plays out to a large degree in public attitudes toward the two countries in five Middle Eastern nations Pew Research Center surveyed in spring 2015. In Jordan, a [predominantly Sunni Muslim nation](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/sunni-shiite-map-middle-east-iran-saudi-arabia.html), 78% of the public have a favorable view of Saudi Arabia, compared with only 8% who have a positive [opinion of Iran](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/06/18/irans-global-image-mostly-negative/).

In the Palestinian territories, where again Sunnis predominate, about half (51%) have a favorable view of Saudi Arabia. Here, there is a split by location. Among Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, 60% have a positive opinion of Saudi Arabia, compared with 46% among West Bank residents. Meanwhile, only 34% in the Palestinian territories express a positive opinion of Iran, with more support coming from the West Bank (40%) than from Gaza (24%).

[![Lebanese split along religious lines on views of Saudi Arabia and Iran](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/01/FT_15.01.06_saudiArabia_iran_lebanon.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/01/07/the-middle-easts-sectarian-divide-on-views-of-saudi-arabia-iran/ft_15-01-06_saudiarabia_iran_lebanon/)

Overall, 48% in Lebanon have a favorable view of Saudi Arabia versus 41% who like Iran. However, as is usually the case in Lebanon, opinion is divided among three main religious groups in the country: Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. An overwhelming number of Sunni Lebanese have a favorable view of Saudi Arabia (82%), while Iran’s favorability among Sunnis sits at 5%. An even greater divide exists among the Lebanese Shia population, with 95% saying they like Iran, while only 3% say the same about Saudi Arabia. Christians in Lebanon tend to have more favorable views of Saudi Arabia (54%) than Iran (29%).

In two other Middle Eastern nations surveyed, there is little support for either Saudi Arabia or Iran. In Turkey, around two-in-ten have favorable views of each power, although it’s worth noting that [people in Turkey tend to have low ratings](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/10/31/the-turkish-people-dont-look-favorably-upon-the-u-s-or-any-other-country-really/) for many nations. And in Israel, even fewer like Riyadh (14%) or Tehran (5%). In Israel, the Arab population is about as positive toward Saudi Arabia (37% favorable) as it is Iran (34%), despite the fact that the Israeli Muslim population is predominantly Sunni. Jews in Israel, however, have little regard for Saudi Arabia (10% favorable) or for Iran – for which there is 0% favorability among Israeli Jews.

*Note: See here for* [*topline results*](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2016/01/07/saudi-arabia-favorability-topline/) *on views of Saudi Arabia and* [*methodology*](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/international-survey-methodology/?year_select=2015)*.*